Ei-iE

Across the world, governments, right-wing pressure groups, conservative and religious organisations, and corporate interests are escalating their attacks on academic freedom. Efforts to censor curricula, restrict research, and erode institutional autonomy are increasing, and political harassment of educators is becoming more widespread.

From bans on teaching race and gender studies, to funding cuts, and political interference in university governance, these attacks go hand in hand with broader assaults on democracy, trade union rights, and freedom of expression.

Against this backdrop, education unionists, academics, and experts met in Calgary, Canada, on February 7–8 for Knowledge and Power: The International Struggle for Academic Freedom, a global conference on academic freedom hosted by Education International (EI) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT). The event provided a platform to confront these urgent challenges and strengthen collective efforts to protect academic freedom worldwide.

Academic freedom under siege: global trends and legal challenges

The conference opened with CAUT’s President Peter McInnis and EI’s General Secretary David Edwards, setting the stage for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of academic freedom worldwide.

McInnis highlighted the growing pressures on academic freedom and broader expressive freedoms, warning that these challenges are part of a larger trend of democratic decline. “The importance of defending all forms of democratic rights is paramount in counteracting the rise of authoritarian and illiberal forces and governments,” he said.

EI’s General Secretary David Edwards reinforced this point, emphasising the fundamental role of higher education and research in shaping democratic societies. “What is at stake is not just the freedom of individual academics; it is the very capacity of higher education and research to serve as a force for positive change in society,” he stated.

Despite the mounting challenges, Edwards emphasised that this is also a moment of opportunity for unions in the sector to mobilise, drawing from the mandates of the resolutions adopted by the recent EI World Congress. He pointed to recent milestones in global advocacy, including the UN Special Rapporteur’s report on academic freedom, which endorsed principles developed with Education International, and the UN recommendations on the Teaching Profession, which reaffirmed the importance of academic freedom as essential to the teaching profession at all levels.

EI’s General secretary also highlighted upcoming advocacy efforts to strengthen international protections for higher education personnel, including the expected review of the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation on the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel and opportunities to leverage EI’s Go Public! Fund Education campaign.

In his keynote address, Robert Quinn, from the international network Scholars at Risk, outlined the key global threats to academic freedom, including:

• Legal and political restrictions on teaching topics such as race, gender, and colonialism.
• Government interference in university governance, including direct control over appointments and funding.
• The decline of tenure and the rise of precarious employment, which weakens academic independence.
• Harassment and violence against academics, particularly those working on politically sensitive issues.

A panel on comparative legal foundations for academic freedom followed, examining the kind of domestic legal protections that exist across different jurisdictions. Speakers discussed how constitutional, statutory, and contractual frameworks can be used to defend educators’ rights while identifying gaps and weaknesses.

Regional perspectives: attacks on academic freedom are spreading

Through a series of regional roundtables, trade unionists and academics shared firsthand accounts of escalating threats and union strategies:

• In North America and Europe, recent threats posed by the far-right compound long-standing challenges related to the marketization of the sector.
• In Latin America and Asia-Pacific, panelists reported attempts to discipline, silence and sometimes criminalize faculty members, attacks on institutional autonomy, and the negative impact of neoliberal agendas on academic communities.
• In Africa and the Middle East, academic freedom is often undermined by government interference, funding cuts, and corporate interests.

The role of education unions in defending academic freedom

A central theme of the conference was the critical role of education unions in resisting these attacks. On the second day, Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), delivered a keynote speech underscoring why trade unions must lead the fight to protect free inquiry, independent research, and democratic values in higher education.

Weingarten outlined how unions are mobilising to:

• Push back against political censorship and ideological attacks on curricula.
• Negotiate stronger contractual protections for academic freedom and tenure.
• Defend individual academics targeted for their research or political views.
• Expose the corporate and political forces seeking to undermine independent education.

"Academic freedom is not just about the rights of individual professors—it is about the right of societies to access independent knowledge and research," Weingarten stated.

Go Public: A global fight for academic freedom

The conference concluded with a strong call to action, urging education unions to scale up efforts to defend academic freedom at national and international levels. Discussions focused on:

• Advancing protections for academic freedom through collective bargaining, national legislation and international agreements.
• Strengthening solidarity among education unions to counter political and corporate interference in higher education.
• Campaigning for public investment in higher education to allow academic institutions to deliver fully on their public and democratic mission.

To learn more about EI’s work on academic freedom go here