Background and motivation
The Movement for a Free Academia is a transnational initiative instigated by scientists based mainly in the Nordic region within the framework of the Nordic Summer University.
The initiative springs from a shared frustration over the existing structures of research as well as a shared yearning of an alternative more compassionate and creative academia. These emotions, we believe, are more or less universal within today's academia and know no boundaries or national borders. Therefore, the solution and actions taken are also transnational.
The first meeting and initiation of the movement took place at University of Gothenburg in Sweden at the spring symposium “Amo, Ergo Cogito” from 5th – 7th of April 2024. The program and purpose of the symposium can be found here. Twenty researchers from various disciplines wrote a manifesto and call for an academic system based on an ethics of care. On the 15th of April, the manifesto was shared internationally.
Academic freedom as a fundamental pillar in enlightened democracies
The possibility for researchers to not only come up with the right answers but also pose the right questions are fundamental ingredients in what we call enlightened democracies. Ideas and critical thinking are necessary for communities and societies to thrive. Without it, societies stagnate, and power and resources are concentrated to serve the few and not the many.
Today, however, academic freedom is under pressure in most countries. This is due to pressures from the outside, from political actors and decision makers, and from strong economic interests. In sensitive areas, researchers are also accused or sometimes even attacked by frustrated citizens. Other sources of pressure are internal such as unhealthy hierarchical structures where young researchers too often are exploited. Factors like new managerialism combined with how researchers measure the success of research through rigid metrics are also strong contributors to creating a culture of fear and extreme competition.
This is not only damaging to academics but to society at large. Why? Because ideas do not thrive in a culture of fear, and we end up losing an enormous pool of ideas, technologies, and critical constructive voices. Almost all Nobel Prize laureates have said the same through the last decade or more: “We couldn’t have developed this idea in today’s academia”. Therefore, academia needs not just small adjustments, it needs a rebirth.
A rebirth can only be ensured through community and international cooperation. Therefore, the time is right for a movement for a free academia.
The preparation and the writing of the Gothenburg manifesto was done by an international group of academics mainly working in the Nordic countries. Some participated online and some participated physically in Gothenburg:
Vasna Ramasar, Senior Lecturer, Lund University, Sweden
Ayşem Mert, Senior Lecturer / Assoc. Prof., Stockholm University, Sweden
Jan Helge Solbakk, Professor of medical Ethics, University of Oslo, Norway
Fernando Racimo, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Sylvie Saget, Independant Researcher & PhD student, Gothenburg University, Sweden
Ingvild Bergom Lunde, Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Oslo, Norway
Heikki Patomäki, Professor, University of Helsinki, Finland
Vitalija Povilaityte-Petri, Transdisciplinary researcher, University of Mons, Belgium
Thessa Jensen, Associate professor, Aalborg University, Denmark
Karolina Enquist Källgren, Associate Professor /Chair NSU, Stockholm university, Sweden
Mark Grimshaw-Aagaard, Professor of Music, Aalborg University, Denmark
Jacob Livingston Slosser, Assistant Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Ann Dorthe Zwisler, Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Helene Illeris, Professor, University of Agder, Norway
May-Linda Magnussen, Professor, University of Agder, Norway
Natasha Fiig, PhD student, Lund University, Sweden
Ole Wæver, Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Joan Boyar, Professor emerita, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Michelle Pace, Professor in Global Studies, Roskilde University (RUC), Denmark
Furqan Asif, Assistant Professor, Aalborg University, Denmark
Rasmus G. Bjørn, Ph.D. researcher, FSU-Jena / Max-Planck-Inst. für Geoanthropologie, Germany
Anders Lund Hansen, Associate Professor, Lund University and Roskilde University, Sweden
Esben Rohan Christensen, Postdoc in quantum physics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Valeska Slomianka, PhD student, Dhair of PhD association DTU, Denmark
Susana Silva, Assistant Researcher, University of Porto, Portugal
Mads Ejsing, Postdoc, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Jes Søe Pedersen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Laura Horn, Associate Professor, Roskilde University, Denmark
Sidsel Eriksen, Associate professor, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Maria Toft, Independent researcher (former PhD student), Denmark
Oliver Kauffmann, Associate Professor, Aarhus University, Denmark
Johan Söderberg, Professor, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
