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Keywords

Academic citizenship, academic freedom, university rule, tenure, UNESCO recommendations

Document Type

Article in Response to Controversy

Theme

The University in the Crossfire: Quandaries over Neutrality, Moral Responsibility, Corporatization, and the Protection of Free Speech in Difficult Times

Abstract

Recently, the idea of academic citizenship has become a popular topic of debate. Citizenship is a political issue that has to do with power and freedom as expressed through constitutional rights and obligations, and such considerations are also relevant in relation to science and scholarship. Originally, many universities were recognized as independent legal entities with their own constitution and jurisdiction, just as it is customary to name university officials with the same titles as republican officials in antique Rome. While the idea of academic citizenship may thus have historical roots, there are also systemic and normative issues that may be worthy of consideration. Constitutional rule is a way of mediating between conflicting parties, and just as interests may conflict, so may power and knowledge. Hence, when the desire for power, or the fear of it, is allowed to dominate human relations, controversial truths are less likely to surface. Drawing readers’ attention to historical facts and the valuable UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel, my overall claim is that the constitutional rights and freedoms of republican government are essential to science, scholarship, and higher education. The horizon that makes this claim important is a sad case, namely that of contemporary Danish university governance, to which I will relate the article’s general claims along the way. Denmark thus serves as an example of a country where the legal protections safeguarding academic citizenship have become very weak, and it is therefore also worth considering how this situation might be changed.

Genre/Form

Article

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

Type

Text

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