Fair play or hypocrisy in English academia?

A letter from Andrea Di Vita, Genoa

Sirs,

Re: Domenico Pacitti's A handbook for visiting academics in Italy

Speaking about Italian proverbs, 'val più la pratica della grammatica'. A rough translation is: 'real life is more fundamental than all theories'. Well, here is a piece of (my) real life. Some years ago, I worked for six months at a major research institution in England. The rating of my work allowed me to gain more funding for a further nine months. Finally, I was given the opportunity to take part in an open competition for a three-year job. The undisputed scientific excellence of that institution did not prevent a friend of mine – an Italian, by the way – from telling me the name of the winner of the competition three weeks before the competition actually took place. I refused to believe it. After all, isn't 'fair play' an English tradition? Actually, I was wrong.

Perhaps, most people think Mafia-like behaviour is limited to Italian academics. Admittedly, they could be right. However, Italians feel less ashamed in speaking about it. Why not? In contrast with the rotten cynicism of corrupt Italians, fair play may be just another name for hypocrisy.

Note: This letter was published by JUST Response on September 2 2002.

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