Saloni Pradhan examines the growing threats to academic freedom in India. From controversial curriculum changes to pressure on scholars, the government is eroding intellectual autonomy. The implications for India's democracy — and the country's future as a knowledge society — are significant.
One of the reasons political scientists are silent on the Israel-Gaza conflict is the fear of being marginalised by the community, writes Catherine Moury. She suggests concrete actions scholars could take to avoid normalising what she – and many fellow academics – consider is nothing short of genocide.
Political neutrality in the face of injustice serves to maintain the status quo. Responding to Hana Kubátová’s blog piece, Adam Standring underlines the moral necessity of organisations like ECPR taking a strong political stance in the face of violence in Palestine and a crackdown on critical voices in the West
Edward Said reminded us that the history of higher education belongs to everyone and that its future depends on the imagination of teachers and students. Markus Holdo asks whether we can seize this critical moment and explore what it means to practice the utopian ideal of a free university
Political statements hinder the difficult conversations central to the mission of institutions of higher learning and scholarly associations. When institutions like ECPR speak collectively on political controversies, Hana Kubátová argues, they take academic freedom away from individual scholars and their dissenting views. Now is the time for institutional neutrality
Last month, a group of scholars submitted an open letter to ECPR's Executive Committee, calling upon it to condemn the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. ECPR declined. This, says Vladimir Bortun, was a missed opportunity. Here, he argues that the political science community should use the catastrophe in Gaza to open up debate about the mission of ECPR – and about the very purpose of political science
Hungarian universities are facing increasing interference from government. The recent dismissal of Zoltán Ádám from Corvinus University in Budapest thus signals a worrying erosion of academic autonomy. For Gábor Halmai, Balázs Majtényi, and Andrew Richard Ryder, Ádám's dismissal reflects a pattern. They argue that a broader political agenda is threatening academic freedom, and raising questions about Hungary’s democratic integrity
We must find a way to uphold academic freedom and freedom of expression while embracing equality, diversity, and inclusion, including multiculturalism. Tariq Modood proposes a framework for distinguishing between Islamophobia and reasonable criticism of Islam and Muslims. This can serve as a foundation for the desired equilibrium
Raphael Cohen-Almagor looks at the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to boycott Israeli academics and ban Israel tout court. He argues that there is no justification for any academic organisation to do this. Any such decision would be unjust, unfair, and counter-productive
Andrea Pető is a gender scholar formerly based at Central European University in Budapest. Following crackdowns on gender studies by Viktor Orbán's government in Hungary, her institution has been forced into exile in Vienna. Here, Andrea breaks down illiberal leaders' specific strategies to undermine academic freedom, and offers suggestions for how academics, and citizens, can resist illiberal attacks on higher education
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