Academic freedom and the ‘intellectual diversity’ movement in Australia

Abstract

Members of the misnamed ‘intellectual diversity’ movement seek to criticise universities for being dominated by left-wing ideas, often termed in accusations of ‘bias’. They allege that universities and academics express such bias in the form of hiring and tenure practices which favour those with liberal views, and the conduct of teaching and assessment of students which penalise students with conservative views. This movement has recently gained prominence in Australia, including by successfully instigating a Senate Inquiry into Academic Freedom in 2008. In this article I outline and critique the arguments of the intellectual diversity movement in Australia, and in so doing trace the linkages between its arguments and those of its United States’ contemporaries. I articulate the grave threat to intellectual freedom that this movement represents.