Steal This University documents the rise of the American corporate university over the past twenty years as well as the academic labour movement that has developed in response. Universities are increasingly looking to corporations as their model for reform, investing in merit-pay packages, partnerships with hi-tech companies, and anything that will reap profits from their creations. With controversial, personal stories of workplace exploitation, tenure battles, and union organizing, the book shows the challenges of working within this new system and explains the countermovement working to restore independence to university teachers. From New York University's union-busting techniques to the rise of for-profit schools like the University of Phoenix, this book is both an indictment of current trends and a blueprint for combating them.