Developments and Challenges in the US and EU
What risks arise for democratic societies when academic freedom is restricted and liberal scientific trends at universities are repressed?
Academic freedom is a central pillar of liberal societies. The freedom to conduct research and pursue scientific endeavours is also considered a key indicator for a free, open and innovative society. Currently, the United States is providing an example of how civil society and democratic institutions are trying to defend themselves against restrictions on freedom of research. As the political battle intensifies in the public eye, internationally renowned academics and scientists are leaving the USA to work in other countries.
While many European intellectuals sought exile in the United States during the time of National Socialism, Europe is now considered a refuge for academic freedom. However, there are also European voices that warn against threats, whether due to cancel culture, economic interference, state underfunding, but also increasing disinformation and rejection of scientific findings from the right-wing political spectrum.
How can universities and research institutions become more resilient in order to secure their independence from funding bodies, whether state or private sector? How might illiberal practices affecting higher education institutions and academics themselves be described in more detail? And which intellectual currents are under particular attack in places where democracies are undergoing processes of autocratisation? Is there a discernible pattern for a political strategy that favors autocratic mechanisms? Brain drain has long-term consequences: what knowledge gaps arise in the countries that lose these scientists and intellectuals? Are recruitment programmes abroad a solution? What opportunities do they offer? What can actors in international cultural relations, politics and civil society do to promote academic freedom and democratic resilience?
Conference language: English with simultaneous interpretation into German.
