'A one-sided view of the world': women of colour at the intersections of academic freedom

Academic freedom is a necessary principle. Current attempts to (re)conceptualise, (re)frame, and reduce the principles of free speech from universal concepts to specific and narrow conceptions are however underpinned by political expediency and accompanied by erosions to press freedom and protest ri...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The international journal of human rights 2022-11, Vol.26 (10), p.1822-1841
Main Authors: Blell, Mwenza, Liu, Shan-Jan Sarah, Verma, Audrey
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic freedom
Academic staff
Amplification
Censorship
Digitization
Disguise
Education
Ethnicity
Freedom of speech
Freedom of the press
Higher education
Institution building
Intersectionality
Intervention
Minority & ethnic groups
precarity in universities
Principles
race and ethnicity in universities
Surveillance
Teaching
transnational learning
Women
Women of colour in academia
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Academic freedom is a necessary principle. Current attempts to (re)conceptualise, (re)frame, and reduce the principles of free speech from universal concepts to specific and narrow conceptions are however underpinned by political expediency and accompanied by erosions to press freedom and protest rights. The current enacting and policing of academic freedom is purposely acontextual, colour-blind, and ignorant of differential costs of dissent and (non)compliance. This paper focuses instead on the interlinked conditions of precarity, neoliberalisation, internationalisation, digitisation, and state-encouraged intervention that lead to increased surveillance, (self-)censorship, and cultures of silencing, to show that women and people of colour are caught in the crosshairs of the 'culture wars' in unique ways. Drawing primarily on the United Kingdom Higher Education (UKHE) sector alongside other international examples, this paper contends that the conditions, structures, and policies around research and teaching amplify state-encouraged backlash against the teaching and research on specific topics. It shows that the renewed fervour for academic freedom continues to disguise bad faith ideologies whilst amplifying politicised interests keen to reinforce the status quo. Historically excluded and minoritised academics face new risks and greater pressures building on already deep-rooted institutional cultures of targeted silencing.
ISSN:1364-2987
1744-053X
DOI:10.1080/13642987.2022.2041601