Academic freedom rests on a shared belief that the production of
knowledge advances the common good. In an era of education budget cuts,
wealthy donors intervening in university decisions, and right-wing
groups threatening dissenters, scholars cannot expect that those in
power will value their work. Can academic freedom survive in this
environment--and must we rearticulate what academic freedom is in order
to defend it?
This book presents a series of essays by the renowned historian Joan
Wallach Scott that explore the history and theory of free inquiry and
its value today. Scott considers the contradictions in the concept of
academic freedom. She examines the relationship between state power and
higher education; the differences between the First Amendment right of
free speech and the guarantee of academic freedom; and, in response to
recent campus controversies, the politics of civility. The book
concludes with an interview conducted by Bill Moyers in which Scott
discusses the personal experiences that have informed her views.
Academic freedom is an aspiration, Scott holds: its implementation
always falls short of its promise, but it is essential as an ideal of
ethical practice. Knowledge, Power, and Academic Freedom is both a
nuanced reflection on the tensions within a cherished concept and a
strong defense of the importance of critical scholarship to safeguard
democracy against the anti-intellectualism of figures from Joseph
McCarthy to Donald Trump.
