Wednesday 15 Dec, 9.00-10.45

 

Organisers: Eva Hartmann (University of Cambridge), Sue Wright (Aarhus University) and Amélia Veiga (University of Porto)

Registration: This session is a part of a conference European Universities - Critical Futures that takes place in person in Copenhagen as well as online (13-15 December 2021). The online participation will be via Microsoft Teams (not Zoom). To receive the link, register for as Participant (attending online) here: https://events.au.dk/keystoneconference/signup

 

Background

Universities have been imbued with the mindset of neoliberal capitalism.  The doctrines of efficiency, rate of return, choice, competition, and economic growth have become their organising principles in many respects. These conditions prevent universities from playing a key role in supporting a transition to a future that is sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms. Thinking about an alternative future therefore requires a reflection on existing power relations and the conditions of (our own) academic knowledge production.

The working group, ‘Alternative conditions for knowledge creation: Invitation to an explorative journey’ has held a series of webinars to open up space for identifying the conditions that enable envisaging another future.  Each event considered 1) the issues at stake in terms of academic knowledge production, and 2) promising ways forward to develop alternative knowledge and ways of knowing. The following issues have been discussed:

• The digital:  new wave of privatisation of universities
• Digital sovereignty: the possibility of non-proprietary knowledge production and a new common good?
• Open access publishing: the oligopoly of big publishing firms, or the possibility of alternative models?
• Social impact and value for money: who should universities serve? 

Programme

The conference session focuses on academic freedom as an overarching condition for knowledge creation.

Issues at stake:

• Reflection on the issues raised about academic freedom in the previous sessions in the webinar series on alternative knowledge creation - Eva Hartmann (Cambridge University)
• Cases (These cases will show enormous differences between the concepts of freedom and the ways they are being attacked)

1. Portugal - Amelia Veiga (University of Porto)
2. Poland - Jakub Krzeski (Adam Mickiewicz University) 
3. UK - Cris Shore (Goldsmiths College London)
4. Denmark – Sue Wright (Aarhus University)

Promising ways forward:

• Astrid Söderbergh Widding (President of Stockholm University, Vice-President of Magna Charta Organisation, Council Member of European Universities Association)