Illiberal Academia: How Academic Freedoms Transform

• In Event: Examinations of Policy Across K-16 Contexts

Abstract

The last decade has seen a global decline in democratic governance, characterized by the rise of illiberalism and the increasing power of right-wing, conservative, and nationalist parties. This trend impacts higher education (HE), as regimes consolidate control over public institutions and enact policies that transform non-state institutions, including universities. This study investigates how democratic decline, nationalism, populism, and illiberalism affect academic freedoms, particularly in critical scholarly fields. By examining the friction between political pressure and academic freedom, the study aims to uncover the mechanisms through which declining democracies alter HE. Using qualitative case study of Turkey, the research focuses on how these political shifts manifest in university policies, practices, and resistance.

Author

• Zahra Jafarova, University of Toronto - OISE