Book Review: Academic Freedom in Higher Education: Core Value or Elite Privilege?

On July 12th, an important book was published by Routledge, edited by researcher Maria Slowey, titled:

Academic Freedom in Higher Education: Core Value or Elite Privilege?

The participating experts in this book discuss the importance of academic freedom and the multiple threats facing universities in this context in the 21st century. Through a multidisciplinary and cross-border perspective, the central issues of this study are clarified through detailed case studies and broader developments in the concept of academic freedom. By adopting a long-term approach, the book provides analyses on an issue of pressing contemporary significance in higher education.

Academic freedom has long been considered a core value for universities in Western societies. At first glance, this might seem not only an uncomplicated concept but also an uncontroversial one, being almost an inherent feature of universities across the diverse societies that constitute the Western world, and even a general trend in various universities worldwide.

Emphasizing Karl Jaspers’ view that “it is the right of man to keep the search for truth alive everywhere, without restriction,” and the pre-existing assertion that the university, as an institution, and the individuals working as faculty members, have the right and duty to pursue the search for truth as they see fit, free from interference or pressure from public authorities, cultures, or internal interests. Thus, the university must provide an environment where, through the free pursuit of truth, knowledge and understanding can be acquired.

Researchers dedicated to scientific research must be able to follow the argument wherever it leads, unrestricted by received wisdom, popular opinions, political affiliations, and regardless of the practical, social, and ethical implications of their conclusions.

However, as often occurs over different historical periods and varied contexts, the complexity and contradictions of the concept of academic freedom increase upon closer examination. Can academic freedom maintain the same content in this changing global context? Should academic freedom remain a core value for the contemporary university?

The first part of the book provides an overview of the origins and definitions of academic freedom. The second part clarifies the significant differences between academic freedom and the broader principle of freedom of expression. In democratic societies, freedom of expression is or should be a universal right, subject only to legal constraints. On the other hand, academic freedom for both institutions and individuals—as university members including professors and researchers, and in some significant respects, even students—is a right to be earned through acquiring specialized knowledge and application and intellectual precision in teaching and research. The goal has always been the pursuit of knowledge and “truth” through scientific research and the dissemination of knowledge.

The third part identifies the explicit and implicit threats to the concept of academic freedom, arising from both external and internal sources. The fourth part provides the rationale for this book and its multidisciplinary, international, and comparative perspective and structure.

The practice of academic freedom is associated with three main characteristics:

1. Students must be taught how to think and engage in critical thinking;
2. Researchers must be free to pursue research as they see fit, with the ultimate goal of seeking truth through the acquisition of knowledge and understanding;
3. The academic community must be free from external or internal interference.

Moreover, faculty members, including students, are humans and subjective, no matter how they strive for objective neutrality in any context, including teaching and research.

There are caveats and issues associated with the concept of academic freedom. The central contradiction, or at least the limiting factor of academic freedom, is that free inquiry is necessary to define it, but such inquiry is monitored and legitimized by a disciplinary authority, ensuring autonomy and freedom from external pressures for researchers. While the university provides the essential conditions for the production of knowledge, this process is not democratic as it relies on the expertise of researchers and professors, not on their political, cultural, or social opinions.

The first chapter of the book analyzes the historical and philosophical foundations of academic freedom and freedom of expression. Peter Scott examines a historical approach to illustrate the elusive nature of the concept of academic freedom from the Middle Ages to the modern era, identifying the challenging context of academic freedom in contemporary higher education, where accountability to the state is a concern.

The intellectual climate—amid successive waves of post-structuralism, deconstructionism, and other similar intellectual currents—potentially undermines more traditional forms of scientific research and rational thought. Peter Scott asserts that while institutional autonomy has been reduced in mass systems, academic freedom has been directly attacked only in exceptional cases, despite its subtle erosion from both within and outside.

Scott traces the changing foundations of academic freedom and freedom of expression and the associated dilemmas posed to universities from four interconnected perspectives:

• External structural pressures;
• Ideological interventions derived from outside;
• Internal structural changes;
• Ideological effects generated internally.

In the third chapter, Alan Howarth examines the philosophical origins of the concepts of freedom of expression and academic freedom, focusing on John Stuart Mill but also including the views of other influential thinkers. He analyzes the differences between “freedom of thought and discussion” and the concept of academic freedom.

The social class structure emerging in the late 19th century, as argued by John Stuart Mill, facilitated a new entry point for discussion, which was key to social progress and acted as an antidote to “the tyranny of the majority.”

The second part of the book illustrates the general issues analyzed above through a detailed examination of two contrasting cases during the post-World War II period in British higher education: from the 1940s to the 1990s, discussing the lasting effects of contemporary debates in each.

In the first chapter, Richard Taylor analyzes a controversial incident in the UK, where some claimed there was systemic discrimination against leftist academics in off-campus departments, especially those associated with the Communist Party. Their legitimacy as university professionals was questioned due to their ideological views in the early Cold War era (late 1940s to mid-1950s). These departments were involved in providing education in inherently controversial contexts, with various social and governmental bodies such as trade unions, social workers, police, and armed forces. Furthermore, in the immediate post-war period, Britain still possessed a vast empire in Africa and elsewhere, and these departments were often involved with the government in providing higher education within a politically tense environment, where issues of colonialism and demands for independence inevitably arose in university research and studies. Although framed within a specific historical and organizational context, the issues raised regarding the appropriate boundaries of academic freedom have maintained their significance continuously in the university system.

The book also addresses the topic of “cancel culture” and “no platforming,” as two highly controversial issues in universities in most liberal democracies in the 21st century. In the second chapter, Evan Smith provides a historical contextual analysis of this phenomenon and the controversies that have surrounded it for some time in the UK. He presents detailed evidence that this issue is not a recent phenomenon but has been prominent and controversial for many decades. The application of the “no platform” principle revealed tensions within the student movement and the wider society about how it should be used and who should be targeted. It raises several important questions, notably whether individual rights should override the rights of the broader academic community, including black and minority ethnic students and staff, to learn and teach in a safe environment.

In the third part of the book, academic freedom in the contemporary period is discussed, relying on diverse experiences and debates on issues related to academic freedom in Mexico, Hong Kong, and Hungary.

Fitz de Vries examines the state of academic freedom in Mexico under a populist regime seeking to redefine what academic and research freedom standards should be from a political perspective. These developments affect not only freedom of expression but also freedom of thought, exploration, and research. While the government allows people to say what they want and defends their right to do so, it does not encourage, directly or indirectly, research on certain topics. A great deal of serious past research has been condemned as “neoliberal science,” not only by the state but also by some Mexican universities.

In the next chapter, Liz Jackson compares ideal views of academic freedom with the concrete experiences of academics, drawing on her knowledge of both Hong Kong and the USA. She sees academic freedom as a “capability,” the extent to which a person enjoys academic freedom can be dynamic and not limited to legal rights. This capability depends on factors such as the types of knowledge valued within a particular social context, who conducts the research, and what drives researchers to silence or self-censorship, even when academic freedom is officially in place.

In the following chapter of the same part, Rebecca Bakus and Andrea Peto adopt a critical and comparative perspective on the contemporary crisis facing established European values. They examine the treatment of refugee researchers in Hungary within the context of two interconnected aspects of the Orban government’s policies: the stance on refugees and the allegedly illiberal approach to academic freedom. They argue that although Hungarian refugee policy has become increasingly restrictive since the 2015 refugee crisis, there was a noticeable shift in government stance in 2022 with the onset of the war in Ukraine. Through analyses of government policies and in-depth interviews with several migration experts, the chapter explores the extent to which Hungary is prepared to accept refugee academics compared to their reception across the European Union in general, and in Romania and the UK in particular.

The chapters in the fourth part highlight specific contemporary developments in higher education with significant implications for academic freedom—conceptually and practically. They address the extent to which the core principles of academic freedom are applied in practice—if at all—to university members. In exploring this issue, the book relies on a consultative exercise conducted to gather expert opinions on higher education research from 11 countries: in Europe—Denmark, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK; Japan; South Africa; and the USA. It analyzes their concepts of academic freedom—the guarantees and threats—and their views on the implications for the rights and protections of those sometimes referred to as “academic monopoly.”

Ellen Hazelkorn discusses the use and abuse of global rankings over recent decades, highlighting their profound impact on shaping

the global higher education and scientific landscape. These rankings partly reflect the growing trends of globalization in higher education, as in many other sectors, leading to broader conversations about the production and dissemination of knowledge. Several key issues are raised, including: How is the concept of “excellence” defined? How important are factors such as “student employability” or “public impact”? Similarly, new forms of publishing and new practices of sharing and making research results publicly available raise questions about whether they might narrow rather than broaden public access. Furthermore, there is evidence of increasing links between rankings, publishing, and “big data,” leading to the creation of vast repositories usually kept behind “paywalls.” The “monetization” of higher education data highlights its value outside the higher education community and governments, thus implicitly conflicting with the spirit of academic freedom.

In the final chapter, the book’s authors reaffirm the importance of academic freedom and the need to reassert its centrality and protection in the next phase of the university’s development in contemporary society.