When the review was founded twenty-five years ago, the European scholarly world seemed on the brink of new and exciting developments. The European Union Act and initial EU funding for the review set out a project of open borders for scholars and ideas alike. The review represents scholars from across Europe and has, historically, had its ‘institutional’ bedrock in three universities in particular: the University of Manchester, the European University Institute and the Central European University in Budapest. It will not escape our readers’ notice that two of these three institutions are now being placed on a very divergent path from the one we envisaged when the journal was founded. The CEU is threatened and the United Kingdom is on its way out of the European Union. Across Europe (including Turkey and Russia) dozens of universities are being closed down or threatened, while other pressures apply to research across the world. Within the EU, the European project and its values are facing growing pressures from the evolution of national politics. The reinvigorated nationalist politics of Europe impact directly on the role given to universities and on academic freedom of speech. It is therefore not a surprise if, twenty-five years after the founding of our review, we are planning our next conference on the theme of academic freedom. Through this conference, we wish to consider how this avatar of a much longer history of vital intellectual freedom has been defined, challenged and defended since universities were established.
Of course, academic freedom should never be taken for granted. Lobbies of various kinds, financial, political or religious, have always interfered with the expression of scholarly views or even the development of disciplines. Yet, academic freedom is a central idea in modern scholarship. Even if a precise definition for it is difficult to state, it can be understood as the freedom for members of academia to teach and research without being restrained by political or social control. The concept is not legally defined, it proceeds from customary laws or even traditions and not from laws per se. Legally, discussions on academic freedom fall into the category of freedom of speech, even if this concept only partly covers the implications of scholarly freedom to research.
When first created in the Middle Ages, universities were religious institutions. Throughout centuries, they had to fight their way out of the Churches’ influence. Modern universities created in the 19th century were both instruments of learning the new techniques of capitalism (in engineering for example) and of promotion of the new nation-state. They were instruments and laboratories of nationalisms. In the 20th century, dictatorships and totalitarian regimes severely restricted any freedom in academic institutions. In the 21st century, academic freedom and freedom of speech can be found only in a few countries, mostly in liberal democracies. In many countries, it remains difficult, often dangerous, to criticise the rulers or dominant values.
Even in liberal democracies, academic freedom remains fragile and is never perfectly achieved. Neo-liberal governance of universities is a significant threat: academics are expected to follow the market-oriented, customer-satisfaction, impact-driven agendas of their employers. Rising bureaucracy and micro-management imposed on academics could also be a way of banning conflicting views. Critical thinking and freedom of expressions could also be restricted by students themselves. The recent emergence of ‘safe spaces’ on American campus, in which students demand not to be challenged in their identities or belief systems, is an example of such a phenomenon. Identity politics and political correctness may also restrain debates.
The organisers of this conference welcome proposals covering various topics. Presentations can cover any period in history or any country. Presentations could cover the questions of university governance, the recruitment of academics. Purges following regime changes can be considered. Legal aspects are of interest to this conference, together with case studies of academics put on trial for their publications, whether in democracies or in authoritarian states. Proposals should be sent by November 1, 2017 to Jean-Marc Dreyfus at [email protected].
This is probably the most topical and urgent academic endeavour this review has been engaged with since its creation. It is a sad indictment of our age that our concerns for the present and future of what makes academic research possible should replace the urgent optimism of our origins.