Title:
Academic freedom and democracy in African countries: the first study to track the connection
Author:
Liisa Laakso
Senior Researcher, The Nordic Africa Institute
Published:
The Conversation, 17 August 2022
From the article:
There is growing interest in the state of academic freedom worldwide. A 1997 Unesco document defines it as the right of scholars to teach, discuss, research, publish, express opinions about systems and participate in academic bodies. Academic freedom is a cornerstone of education and knowledge.
Yet there is surprisingly little empirical research on the actual impact of academic freedom. Comparable measurements have also been scarce. It was only in 2020 that a worldwide index of academic freedom was launched by the Varieties of Democracy database, V-Dem, in collaboration with the Scholars at Risk Network.