Government power and university principles: An analysis of the battle for academic freedom in Alberta

Interchange ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Winchester

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seán Molloy

Primarily known as a pioneer of International Relations (IR) theory, Hans Morgenthau also wrote on a series of other political themes. Especially prominent in his later career is a concern with the right and duty of a theorist to exercise academic freedom as a critic of government power and, especially in this particular case, of US foreign policy. For Morgenthau the responsibility to hold governments to account by reference to the ‘higher laws’ that underpin and legitimize democracy in its truest form was a key function of the theorist in society. Dissensus and healthy debate characterize genuine democracy for Morgenthau who was perturbed by what he perceived to be a worrying concern with conformity and consensus among the political and academic elites of Vietnam War era America. This article investigates the theoretical and philosophical commitments that explain why Morgenthau felt compelled to oppose the government of his adopted state and the consequences of his having done so. For all the vicissitudes he endured, Morgenthau ultimately emerged vindicated from his clash with the political elite and his experience serves as an exemplary case of the effective use of academic freedom to oppose government policy by means of balanced, judicious critique. In the final section I argue that Morgenthau’s approach to theory, theorization and the role of the intellectual in society provides valuable insights into the nature of reflexivity in IR that are of relevance to contemporary debates in the discipline.



1975 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-352
Author(s):  
M. D. Bogdonoff


1938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lester Smith
Keyword(s):  




Author(s):  
Joanna Williams
Keyword(s):  


2018 ◽  
pp. 52-69
Author(s):  
A. N. Oleinik

The article develops a transactional approach to studying science. Two concepts play a particularly important role: the institutional environment of science and scientific transaction. As an example, the North-American and Russian institutional environments of science are compared. It is shown that structures of scientific transactions (between peers, between the scholar and the academic administrator, between the professor and the student), transaction costs and the scope of academic freedom differ in these two cases. Transaction costs are non-zero in both cases, however. At the same time, it is hypothesized that a greater scope of academic freedom in the North American case may be a factor contributing to a higher scientific productivity.



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