Academic freedomWork Group 2
Tatyana BajenovaJanja Komljenovic
Miguel LimTore Bernt Sorensen
Chris MuellerleileJana Bacevic
Background and context
• Academic freedom one of key terms in the debates and discussions around higher education
• Salient issue for the relationship between universities, the state, and the public sphere
• Regulates the work and working lives of academics• Raises other issues (relationship to other human
rights/freedoms, limitations to freedom of expression, distinction between “public” and “private” engagement of academics…)
Illustration: The Salaita Case• Tenured professor at Virginia Tech—offered job at U of
Illinois, 2014• His appointment is publicized by the University• As late as July, 2014, U of I defends Salaita’s public
comments• Job “offer” revoked in late August 2014 citing AF of
students• Center for Constitutional Rights defends the case
saying it “constitutes ‘viewpoint discrimination,’ a violation of the First Amendment, and also threatens academic freedom by punishing a faculty member for speaking as a citizen on a critical issue”
Questions
• Who defines academic freedom?• Who owns academic freedom?• Who exercises academic freedom?• In what time and place? (context, context,
context )• Is it positively or negatively defined?• Normative or descriptive?• What are the limits of/boundaries to academic
freedom?
For a “broader” concept of academic freedom? (Butler 2006)
Pros Cons“Weak” liberal concept of academic freedom cannot provide sufficient protection for the freedom/right to be exercised
Embededness in other regimes or discourses of human rights; cannot expect specific provisions to extend universally
Freedom should extend beyond cases where subjects are free to move and have sufficient material conditions
Principled defense allows to distinguish between individuals, not only institutions
Allows for defending against extremist attitudes in and off campus
“Balance of views”
Main points for discussion
• Tensions between general approaches and decisions on a case-to-case basis
• Relationship between AF and power (of the state, but also of individuals to exercise it)
• Balance of views vs. unacceptable views• Role of material conditions (neoliberalism
comparable with Occupation?)• Tensions between expectations for academic
engagement and academic freedom (requirements of the genre, e.g. Tweeting)