The trend towards extreme specialization and division of bourgeois academia into a fractal of fields & sub fields reinforces ruling class ideology, as academics often lack a cross-disciplinary perspective. Lay intellectuals are better positioned to develop holistic understanding.

This process, together with the commodification of research behind paywalls and the professionalization and stratification within academia, is part of a bourgeois effort to control the production of scientific knowledge to suit their needs.

Capitalism requires the production of new scientific knowledge to function. But scientific inquiry proves the necessity of revolution and demystifies bourgeois rule. The capitalists seek to manage this contradiction through various techniques such as hyper-specialization.

The best example of this is the splitting of the field of political economy into political science, sociology and economics after Marx. These fields must be studied separately because when studies in relation to one another, Marx’s conclusions are incontrovertible.

Hyperspecialization impedes the development of revolutionary knowledge. I’ve met many academics, even radical ones, whose knowledge outside their field of study was severely limited, even naive. This is by design.

It’s important for the Left to develop well rounded, cross disciplinary revolutionary thinkers, whether that means lay intellectuals or formally credentialed academics who are comfortable speaking to the people.