Protests at Yale Over Sacking of Rebel Professor

An anarchist anthropology professor described as one of the brightest minds in his field has become a cause célèbre for student union activists at Yale after the university decided not to renew his contract.

The treatment of David Graeber, who belongs to the Industrial Workers of the World union and has been arrested during anti-globalisation protests, has sparked a letter-writing campaign from professors around the world, while more than 4,000 people have signed an online petition accusing the Ivy League university of letting politics influence the hiring of staff.

"It's extremely odd that one of the most brilliant anthropologists is being excluded from the department at Yale in such an extraordinary fashion," Maurice Bloch, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics who wrote to Yale, told Associated Press.

Yale has refused to explain why the anthropology department did not renew his contract. Mr Graeber told AP that during a six-year review he was given a short-term contract after colleagues expressed concerns about his late turning in of grades and coming late to class.

Mr Graeber, 44, who wears combat trousers to class and lives in the same New York City cooperative where he grew up, said his problems at Yale began after he took a year's sabbatical in 2001. While on leave he joined anarchist groups and attended anti-war and anti-globalisation protests.

His high regard for himself and disdain for colleagues may also have contributed, he said: "I'm both more productive intellectually than they are and I'm having more fun. It must drive them crazy," he told AP.