Freedom of Expression in Academia: Repression and Resistance in Times of Crisis

The roundtable will address the following guiding questions and themes:

• How do current global political and institutional trends— such as authoritarianism, securitisation, and the marketisation of higher education— affect academic freedom? How do governments and political actors use funding, regulation, or rhetoric to control academic voices?
• In what ways does academic repression and democratic backsliding manifest differently across liberal and illiberal contexts?
• What strategies have academics and institutions employed to resist repression and defend intellectual autonomy? How do acts of academic resistance and solidarity redefine the boundaries between scholarship and activism?
• What can institutions and networks (such as the SAR) do to protect scholars at risk and foster transnational academic solidarity? What are the hurdles facing these initiatives?

Speakers

• Alessandro Monsutti: Professor, Anthropology & Sociology; Faculty Associate, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding; Faculty Associate, Global Migration Centre; Faculty Associate, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy
• Suddha Chakravartti: Group Head of Research at EU Business School, and Editor-in Chief of ONRESEARCH – its flagship journal. He is a lecturer in International Relations, Public Policy and Law at EU Business School, and adjunct faculty in International Relations at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Geneva. He has previously worked as a researcher for the Commonwealth Secretariat project in Geneva, Africa Progress Panel, and at CUTS.
• Brightman Ganta: Professor of Law, University of Geneva (as a Scholar at Risk). Former Assistant Professor of Law at Bahir Dar University and Director of the Socio-Economic Rights Department at the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission; Consultant, OMCT