A symbiotic relationship between academic freedom and liberal democracy: the case of higher education in Turkey

Abstract

Göl argues that academic freedom has a symbiotic relationship with democracy in Turkey. In other words, academic freedom is necessary for democracy while simultaneously being conditioned by it. This argument is based on three assumptions: First, the existence of academic freedom is crucial for liberal democracy because it is part of civil liberties and individual rights within the Higher Education (HE) sector. Second, academic institutions play a major role in educating citizens and creating public spaces for democratic debates in any given society. Third, the freedom of academics and universities is an essential condition for democratisation. After briefly defining what academic freedom is, the first section traces the origins of Turkish HE in the context of the Ottoman Empire's Westernisation and foreign relations within which academic freedom was introduced as part of modernisation process. The second section unpacks the paradoxical association between university reforms and military coups in Turkey. In order to reveal the symbiotic relationship, the third section analyses the relationship between the attacks on academic freedom and the rise of illiberal democracy under the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi - AKP) rule within the neo-liberal order. The article concludes by arguing that the attacks on academic freedom reflect Turkey's deepening democratic backsliding in the twenty-first century.