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Academic Freedom: An Ongoing Quest to Define and Maintain a Key Scholarly Concept

Amid challenges facing the educational process in Arab universities, the issue of academic freedom sometimes seems neglected despite its significant impact on research and education.

But the issue has been a concern of scholars for centuries. In this article, Al-Fanar Media presents a brief guide to the history of the concept of academic freedom, and the attempts to establish standards for its practice to better serve higher education and scientific research.

Defining Academic Freedom

A research paper published in 2015 by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), a human-rights organization based in Egypt, indicates that the United Nations’ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted in 1966, considered the right to education as an obligation for ratifying states, but the treaty originally contained no reference to academic freedom.

In 1999, the U.N. committee that oversees the implementation of the treaty sought to remedy that omission and issued an explanatory comment on academic freedom.

In its comment, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated: “Members of the academic community, individually or collectively, are free to pursue, develop and transmit knowledge and ideas, through research, teaching, study, discussion, documentation, production, creation or writing.”

It added: “Academic freedom includes the liberty of individuals to express freely opinions about the institution or system in which they work, to fulfill their functions without discrimination or fear of repression by the State or any other actor, to participate in professional or representative academic bodies, and to enjoy all the internationally recognized human rights applicable to other individuals in the same jurisdiction.”

“Academic freedom includes the liberty of individuals to express freely opinions about the institution or system in which they work, [and] to fulfill their functions without discrimination or fear of repression by the State or any other actor.”

From a 1999 explanatory comment by the committee that oversees implementation of the United Nations’ International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The committee also stated that the enjoyment of academic freedom carries with it obligations, such as the duty to respect the academic freedom of others, to ensure the fair discussion of contrary views, and to treat all without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds. 

“The enjoyment of academic freedom requires the autonomy of institutions of higher education,” it reads. “Autonomy is that degree of self-governance necessary for effective decision-making by institutions of higher education in relation to their academic work, standards, management and related activities.”

History and Standards

While the idea of intellectual freedom has ancient roots, the modern concept of academic freedom dates from the establishment of the first European universities in the 12th and 13th centuries. In that time, the Church did not allow universities to teach theological and scientific doctrines that contradicted its teachings.

In a step considered a precedent, the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands, which was founded in 1575, granted its students and researchers freedom of academic work, research, and teaching.

In 1610, the University of Berlin granted its affiliates the right to freedom of research and teaching without external restrictions, the Iraqi academic Riyad Aziz Hadi noted in a 2010 study published by the Center for Development and Continuing Education at the University of Baghdad.

In his study, titled “Universities: Origin and Development, Academic Freedom, and Independence,” Hadi stated that the crystallisation of the concept of academic freedom in German universities contributed to the spread of awareness about this issue in American universities in the late 19th century.

Scholars agree that numerous initiatives and declarations have contributed to establishing the concept of academic freedom. Notable developments include the following:

The Lima Declaration (1988)

The Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and Autonomy of Higher Education Institutions, announced in 1988, was drafted by more than 50 professional organisations. Their work came after a training seminar organised by the World University Service, a network interested in higher education, in 1984.

The Lima Declaration states that “academic freedom is an essential precondition for education, research, administrative and services functions with which universities and other institutions of higher education are entrusted.”

It adds that “every member of the academic community enjoys, in particular, freedom of thought, conscience, religion, expression, assembly, and association, as well as the right to liberty and personal security, [and] freedom of movement.” Governments are obligated to protect these rights under the United Nations Covenant on Human Rights, the document says. Furthermore, it adds, “no member of the academic community shall be dismissed without a fair investigation before a democratically elected body of the academic community.”

The Lima Declaration also states that all members of the academic community with research functions “have the right to carry out research without any interference.” They also have “the right to communicate the conclusions of their research freely to others, and to publish them without censorship,” it asserts.

All faculty members, it says, “have the right to teach without any interference, subject to accepted principles, and have the freedom to maintain contact with their counterparts in any part of the world, and the freedom to develop their educational capabilities.

The Kampala Declaration (1990)

A similar statement, the Kampala Declaration on Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility was adopted in 1990 by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (Codesria), a Pan-African research organisation based in Dakar, Senegal.

“At its simplest, academic freedom may be defined as the freedom to conduct research, teach, speak, and publish, subject to the norms and standards of scholarly inquiry, without interference or penalty, wherever the search for truth and understanding may lead.”

From a 2005 Statement on Academic Freedom by a Global Colloquium of University Presidents

The Kampala Declaration stipulates that “teaching and researching members of staff and students of institutions of education have the right, directly and through their elected representatives, to initiate participate in and determine academic programmes of their institutions in accordance with the highest standards of education.”

It adds that teachers and researchers should “have security of tenure.” No academic, it says, should be “dismissed or removed from employment except for reasons of gross misconduct, proven incompetence or negligence incompatible with the academic profession. Academics subject to dismissal proceedings must be provided “a fair hearing before a democratically elected body of the intellectual community,” it adds.

Amman Declaration on Academic Freedom (2004)

In the Arab world, the Amman Declaration on Academic Freedoms and the Independence of Higher Education and Scientific Research, announced in 2004, constituted a prominent attempt to formulate principles and standards for the concept of academic freedom. This declaration came out of the Conference on Academic Freedoms in Arab Universities, which was organised by the Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, an independent research and advocacy organization in Jordan, in December 2004.

The Amman Declaration called for “the need to abolish political tutelage from the academic community, and the commitment of public authorities to respect the independence of the scientific community with its three components: professors, students, and administrators.”

The statement pointed out that academic freedom includes “the right to express an opinion, freedom of conscience, [and] the right to publish and exchange information and knowledge.” It also stated that academic freedom “includes the right of the academic community to self-govern, and to affirm the right of members of the Arab academic body to move across Arab countries, and to communicate with the academic community on the global level.”

Egyptian Aspirations Toward Academic Freedom

A study of attempts to define academic freedom and establish principles for its practice in Egypt notes a significant effort in 1995.

The organisers of that effort stated: “No researcher shall be subjected to oppression, persecution, or any form of punishment in his academic or public life, because of his or her research, or the results of this research, and by providing real and equal opportunities for everyone to engage in the academic community according to their capabilities,” according to a book titled “Intellectual and Academic Freedom in Egypt,” by Ahmed Nabil Al-Hilali and others, edited by Amina Rashid. It was published by the Arab Research Centre in Cairo in 2000. 

A report by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), however, suggests that those goals remain aspirational. The reality of academic freedom in Egypt “has notably deteriorated during the last six years,” AFTE states in a 2020 report titled “Universities Without Academic Freedoms: A Report on Freedom of Teaching and Research in Egyptian Universities.”

The report describes a pattern of “arbitrary restrictions” imposed by the government and universities themselves “on the academic community’s right to teach and research freely.”

A Global Statement on Academic Freedom (2005)

Many scholars regard a Statement on Academic Freedom issued by a Global Colloquium of University Presidents that met at Columbia University in 2005 as the most accurate attempt to define academic freedom as something distinct from the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion recognised under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international covenants.

“Defining the concept of academic freedom paves the way for a better understanding of violations against it, and helps us find a clear way to exchange opinions and views on how to defend and promote academic freedom on campuses.”

Riyad Aziz Hadi, in a 2010 study titled “Universities: Origin and Development, Academic Freedom, and Independence”

That document states: “At its simplest, academic freedom may be defined as the freedom to conduct research, teach, speak, and publish, subject to the norms and standards of scholarly inquiry, without interference or penalty, wherever the search for truth and understanding may lead.”

The colloquium convened in response to the United Nations secretary-general’s request for greater involvement of the global academic community in exploring international public policy concerns. It gathered more than 40 university leaders and professors from major research institutions throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australia.

An Earlier Attempt to Define Academic Freedom

Similarly, the British academic John Peter Dickinson had previously called for adopting a procedural and practical definition of academic freedom as a specific aspect of the rights of scientific researchers.

In his book “Science and Scientific Researchers in Modern Society,” first published by Unesco in 1984, he described four basic elements as necessary conditions for guaranteeing academic freedom. They are:

  • The internal independence of universities and research institutions.
  • Job security for researchers and academics.
  • Multiple funding sources for these institutions, especially for research that is considered “high risk” in terms of probability of success.
  • The existence of a professional body to represent researchers and academics and to defend their interests individually or collectively.

Challenges and Risks

For his part, Riyad Aziz Hadi, the Iraqi academic, thinks that “challenges and threats to academic freedom are not only limited to the state and religious institutions” and that “various social and ideological restrictions and challenges at work in the social milieu have often undermined it.”

In his 2010 study, he concludes that “defining the concept of academic freedom paves the way for a better understanding of violations against it, and helps us find a clear way to exchange opinions and views on how to defend and promote academic freedom on campuses.”

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