The academy that cried wolf

Academic freedom is under pressure, including, and especially, in the Netherlands (in Dutch). There is no doubt about this,and it is worrying. This is the reason that we need to be as clear as possible about the definition and interpretation of the term ‘academic freedom’, and not use it to frame everything we want to lobby for.

What are we talking about when we talk about academic freedom? The Academic Freedom Index, that ‘measures’ academic freedom, is based on five indicators: 1. the freedom to research and teach; 2. the freedom of academic exchange and dissemination; 3. the institutional autonomy of universities; 4. campus integrity; and 5. The freedom of academic and cultural expression. These are thus important indicators of academic freedom, but they do not equal academic freedom.

The KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, in Dutch) uses the following definition (adopted by Minister Bruins, the former Minister of Education, in Dutch): ‘the principal that employees at academic institutions can carry out their academic research in freedom, can share their findings, and can teach’. (Mostly connected to indicators 1 and 2). The KNAW adds: ‘Academic freedom is not absolute but is subject to the professional values of academic practice as adopted in the Nederlandse Gedragscode Wetenschappelijke Integriteit. (in Dutch, Dutch code of conduct for academic integrity).’ Article 53, which I wrote about earlier, says ‘Be honest about the limitations of the research and your own expertise’. So academic freedom does not mean ‘I can have an opinion about everything’, that is the freedom of expression. I would also like to add that academic freedom is also limited by the agreements in your employment contract and with your supervisor. So academic freedom also does not mean that ‘I can always do whatever I want’.

So academic freedom does not mean ‘I can have an opinion about everything’

My concern is using ‘academic freedom’ as a means to call for general improvement to the higher education system. For example, the KNAW (in Dutch) is  in a report entitled ‘Academic freedom in the Netherlands – a response to current threats’ calling for the following.

• Reduced cutbacks in higher education – and this while they say ‘there is no direct relationship between the scale of Government funding and academic freedom’. UNESCO (in Dutch) has issued similar call.
• More funding for independent research, while at the same time they say that ‘freedom for academia does not always mean that individual academics can decide on subjects for teaching and research in every case’. Of course funding streams affect the choices of individual academics, but as long as they have a choice, they are not unfree. Providing financial stimuli for certain subjects is completely different than censorship, direct intervention in the research, or banning research subjects. A clear example of violating academic freedom is the direct political intervention in the distribution of research funding as proposed by Trump.
• Rejecting the influence of the Government on the choice of language of degree programmes as this is a form of ‘pressure over the curriculum and the duration of the programmes’. Here they forget that shape and content are really not the same thing.
• The dismissal of the systematic screening of large groups of researchers, while at the same time they say that ‘Knowledge Security can be a reason to limit the freedom of academia’.

Let me say that I completely agree with all these calls. However, by putting them all under the heading ‘academic freedom’, you dilute the meaning of this so very important principle. And that is not desirable. While the nuance is certainly contained in the full reports, it – as always – disappears in political debates (such as in the Academic Freedom Committee Debate (in Dutch) on Wednesday 10 September) and talk shows.

We need to take our drop in the Academic Freedom Index seriously and keep an eye on relevant indicators. At the same time, given our academic responsibility (with great freedom comes great responsibility), we need to be clear about what academic freedom is, what it is not, and which warning signs are important. The real indicators must be seen for what they are – canaries in the coal mine.