U. of Michigan Press and Pluto

["Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@gmail.com>]

Good summary article in "Inside Higher Ed" of the recent 
(ongoing?) brouhaha over the publication of a controversial book 
about Israel:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/10/25/pluto

As someone who follows the university press world closely, I was 
very pleased to see that the University of Michigan 
administration chose to support its Press in the controversy. 
Without this kind of support, presses, which are having a 
difficult time right now anyway, wouldn't survive.  A press 
without the support of its parent is a printer.

For those who haven't followed this story, the background is that 
the U. of Michigan Press has a distribution relationship with 
Pluto Press, a left-wing UK publisher.  Pluto published a book 
that attacks current Israeli policy. The controversy was, What is 
UMP's responsibility in all this?  Is UMP endorsing the argument 
of the book?  If so, should it, etc.

It appears that the university handled the matter judiciously. 
It convened a group to review the situation, noted the commercial 
nature of the relationship between UMP and Pluto, and also cited 
the importance of academic freedom.  The administration also is 
looking into guidelines for distribution partners in the future. 
I don't see how anyone could ask the university to do more or 
could hope for an outcome that was more responsible.

As an aside, without distribution agreements, many presses would 
not be able to publish the many other books (controversial and 
uncontroversial) that the academic community requires.  These 
agreements are an important source of funding, and distribution 
is an important part of the strategies of such presses as 
Chicago, Hopkins, and Columbia, among others.

For the record:  I haven't read the book in question, nor do I 
recall having read any book Pluto has ever published.

Joe Esposito