Without self-criticism, there can be no progressive thought in the academy

Spot the Hatchling!

Graff: Entirely agreed. As I write in the new book, my concern is not with what everyone who might be called 'left' or 'progressive' may think, but with various trends that have proved influential for many years among academics self-identifying broadly on the left. But certainly, like many political and ethical vocabularies, these are fluid concepts. By the same token, not all progressives who critique notions such as 'neo-liberalism' or 'capitalism' expect each other, as a preliminary matter, to supply complete and comprehensive definitions of those terms, nor would that be much easier to do.