Marketisation of Academia and Authoritarian Governments: The Cases of Hungary and Turkey in Critical Perspective

Abstract

This article analyses the recent political repression of academia in Hungary and Turkey within the critical scholarship on globalisation and neoliberalisation of higher education. We introduce and challenge the hegemonic definitions of academic freedom that sit comfortably with the capitalist logic as well as repressive governing forms and assess the recent attacks on university communities with emphasis on both academic labour and freedom. Adopting a case study approach, we investigate how economic and political forms of repression accompany and reinforce one another within the specificities of both country contexts. We delineate the underlying structural and historical dynamics as well as emergence and evolution of methods of struggle and resistance employed by diverse university communities in their shared and divergent characteristics. Our conclusions include critical reflections on the broader implications of higher education restructuring, authoritarian interventions, and the future of systemic-level resistance.

The common good and academic freedom in Poland

“…On the contrary, it needs to draw other social forces to its cause and form alliances (Łętowska, 2021). This task is even more urgent as universal notions of academic freedom seem to have “(un)intentionally reinforced authoritarian discourses and policies by reproducing conceptions of society as an allegedly non‐ and anti‐intellectual domain” (Donmez & Duman, 2020, p. 2). However, in the contemporary conjuncture defined by both ecological and pandemic crisis, reproducing divisions between enlightened academic elites and the ignorant masses hardly produces satisfying results in terms of strengthening the authority of science.…”

“…Moreover, such an approach allows us to go beyond the formal guarantees of academic freedom and ask about the material conditions in which academic freedom is embedded (Hall, 2018, p. 52). In this case, material conditions determine the form of power relations that are constitutive of academic freedom (Donmez & Duman, 2020; Marginson, 1997). In other words, academic freedom has to be understood through articulations among universities and other constituencies (Tierney & Lanford, 2014, p. 6).…”

“…After all, there is also a different threat to academic freedom. With the advent of academic capitalism (Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004), it has been argued that commercialization significantly diminishes the conditions for academic freedom (Donmez & Duman, 2020; Lynch & Ivancheva, 2015, p. 11; Tierney, 2001). Therefore, instead of positing a dichotomy of absolute autonomy of academic community and an external threat from the side of the government, this article argues that academic freedom should be conceived as a nexus of social interactions that account for the different social forces involved in its constitution (Marginson, 1997).…”

Illiberal challenges to the European Union’s legitimacy from within and without: the rule of law and refugee crises

“…Studies on right-wing populism and illiberalism in Europe frequently cite Turkey and Hungary together and stress their similarities in undermining liberal democracy (Dönmez and Duman 2020;Elçi 2021;Forgas, William, and Fiedler 2021;Öniş and Kutlay 2019). Furthermore, lumping them together with other EU countries such as Kaczynski's Poland and Matteo Salvini's Italy or non-EU countries such as Putin's Russia, many analysts present them as part of a 'triad' (Rossi 2016) or a 'band of brothers' (Simonyi 2014) contesting the liberal international order (Polyakova et al 2019).…”

As demandas das universidades federais brasileiras para o quadriênio 2023/2026

“…política à academia e a neoliberalização do ensino superior (DOĞAN; SELENICA, 2022; DÖNMEZ;DUMAN, 2021;FERBER, 2018;MANDELL, 2018); ataque neoliberal aos professores e à formação direcionada para a consciência política(GIROUX, 2016;RIEMER, 2016); mercantilização do ensino superior(LOVEDAY, 2021).Às vésperas de um novo pleito presidencial no Brasil, a Andifes, representante legítima das instituições federais de ensino superior (IFES), apresentou aos candidatos o documento "Propostas das universidades federais brasileiras aos candidatos e às candidatas à presidência da república em 2022". À luz do Governo Bolsonaro no quadriênio 2019-2022, o presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar o documento produzido pela Andifes.2 MetodologiaA presente pesquisa, de cunho qualitativo, foi desenhada metodologicamente como um estudo documental.…”