Venkat Raman
Auckland, April 16, 2022
From the corridors of our educational institutions, especially universities, one emotive appeal is becoming more and more pronounced. Our academics fear that their freedom is under threat and that there is increasing pressure to muzzle them.
Our lead story under Educationlink in this issue carries the results of the first Annual Survey on Academic Freedom from the Free Speech Union, highlighting the apprehension many educators at universities have in exercising their academic freedom without fear of reprisal.
This research, conducted by Curia Market Research, provides a reliable insight into how the tens of thousands of Kiwi academics view their speech rights across all eight New Zealand universities.
The Cancel Culture
In its article some time ago, The Economist reported about a debate that has rumbled over whether there is a problem with free speech in British universities. Those who say there is no denying that cancel culture is a real thing and regard those who disagree with them, wherever they sit on the political spectrum, as reactionaries borrowing talking points from the American right. Their opponents point out that silencing is by its nature hard to detect: silence doesn’t make much noise.
Cancel Culture or Callout Culture is a contemporary phrase used to refer to a form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles, whether it be online, on social media or in person. Those subject to this ostracism are said to have been ‘cancelled.’ The expression ‘Cancel Culture’ has mostly negative connotations and is used in debates on free speech and censorship.
The notion of Cancel Culture is a variant of the term Call-Out Culture. It is often said to take the form of boycotting or shunning an individual (often a celebrity) who is deemed to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner.
Some critics argue that Cancel Culture has a chilling effect on public discourse. Others argue that calls for ‘cancellation’ are themselves a form of speech and that they promote accountability. Some public figures claim to have been ‘cancelled,’ while continuing their careers as before.
Evidence in Britain
According to The Economist, there is evidence that free speech is at risk in British universities. A report by the University and College Union in 2017 ranked Britain 27th out of the (then) 28 members of the European Union for the legal protection of academic freedom.
“A study from Policy Exchange, a right-leaning think-tank, found that 32% of academics who identified as politically right-leaning, and 15% of those who identified as centrists, practised self-censorship. Speak to academics and many will tell you that there is a problem and tell you not to quote them,” it said.
Free Speech Union Chief Executive Jonathan Ayling says that while universities must be cognisant of their pastoral duties, they must also remain places where the space to think freely, state controversial ideas, and challenge orthodoxies are vigorously protected.
What might be deduced from Massey University’s policy specifically, and the troubling culture embraced in each of our universities generally, is that pastoral care has taken over from the academic and discursive role of Universities.
To place the potential for hurt feelings over academic freedom flies in the face of the whole purpose of a university; not for fragile minds to be coddled, but for robust thinking to be tested
