Title:
Academic freedom is under threat around the world - here's how to defend it
Author:
Eva Pils, Professor of Law, King's College London
Marina Svensson, Professor of Modern China Studies, Lund University
Published:
The Conversation, 7 October 2020
From the article:
Academic freedom is at the heart of successful universities. UNESCO defines it as the right “to freedom of teaching and discussion, freedom in carrying out research and disseminating and publishing results”. Academics have pointed out that it also means self-governance and security of academic jobs to ensure independence.
Yet in the current climate, academic freedom is under threat everywhere. Not only do some countries perpetrate direct attacks on students and scholars. But the internationalisation of higher education has also created new global threats for both scholars and students.