The paper will address the relationship academics have with politics. This paper will explore the conversion of academics into either professional politicians or political activists and public intellectuals. Examples of these are numerous and include professors of IR becoming presidents of the European Commission (Manuel Barroso), or academics getting engaged in social movements (Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu) or in political debates, like Jürgen Habermas concerning the future of the EU. Under what conditions do these conversions take place?
