UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — What should academic freedom look like in 2022? Michael Bérubé and Jennifer Ruth argue that the term "academic freedom" is being mistaken for free speech — with dangerous consequences for democracy.
Bérubé, the Edwin Earle Sparks Professor of Literature at Penn State, and Ruth, a professor of film at Portland State University are the authors of “It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom,” which will be published in April by Johns Hopkins University Press. In the book, they argue that academic freedom must be distinguished from freedom of speech in the wake of #MeToo movement and the fight for racial justice.
Bérubé and Ruth recently appeared on the Democracy Works podcast to discuss the book. Bérubé said the continued conflation of free speech and academic freedom allows for “zombie ideas” like eugenics to continually resurface under the guise of open inquiry when the academically relevant ideas have long been settled or debunked.
“It’s been harder and harder to maintain any kind of faith in the marketplace of ideas given the advent of Facebook and the ability to organize information campaigns that have literally been lethal during the pandemic,” Bérubé said. “That really severely eroded the standard belief that the best antidote to hate speech is more speech or that sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
In “It’s Not Free Speech,” Bérubé and Ruth argue that a democracy depends on advancing expert knowledge and open inquiry in the sense that the government or other parties should not interfere with rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. However, those who are using their expertise to advance ideas have a responsibility to do so in a way that serves democracy.
“This is one of the cornerstones of a free society to make sure that the people who are doing the teaching and research are not beholden to church or state or party,” Bérubé said. “When we start speaking in public about areas of our expertise, then we're held to a higher standard. Ultimately, this is a bargain that will serve democracy in some way, that the advance of knowledge unfettered by external constraints will serve the common good.”
Universities also play an integral role in creating democratic citizens, and faculty have a responsibility to help students and the broader public separate fact from fiction, said Bérubé.
“A certain amount of competence around facts and knowledge are required to facilitate democratic self-governance. If we don't have that, we don't know how to differentiate between good ideas and bad ideas,” Ruth said. “And that's the space where the universities come in. And if we can protect them from outside influence, we can protect this sphere in which good ideas and bad ideas don't get equal time.”
The Democracy Works podcast is a collaboration between the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and WPSU. Find the show in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any podcast app.