Academic freedom for critical geography: principles, threats, resistance

Abstract. Attacks on academic freedom target mainly critical scholarship: academics who challenge, criticize and debate power relations and inequality lack confidence, not only in authoritarian countries but also in democracies such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Critical research in the fields of climate change, postcolonial studies and gender equality is increasingly under fire in public debates. These are the scientific fields in which many geographers do research and teach. With the authoritarian turnaround in many countries, neoliberal trends in research funding and the rising influence of online media activists on political decisions, attacks on researchers and research areas have taken on a new quality. In order to fight for academic freedom, it is important to understand the principles of and threats against freedom of expression, freedom of speech, university autonomy and academic freedom clearly. Restrictions of these freedoms have different consequences in the areas of teaching, university self-administration, research acknowledgement and the acquisition of third-party funding. This paper highlights the challenges and proposes measures to safeguard academic freedom for critical geography.