Tweeting the academic resistance in Turkey and Hungary: from cultural crisis to defending the nation

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores the reemergence of universities as spaces for the contestation of government policies in an era of illiberalism, rising nationalism and populism. We focus on high-profile contestations occurring at two public universities in Turkey and Hungary: Boğaziçi University and the University of Theatre and Film Arts, respectively. At both universities, attacks on democratic governance and liberal-democratic values have resulted in academic resistance that have played out on physical campuses and in online spaces. We conceptualise a virtual space as a space of contestation and analyse social media data to identify the dominant narratives of governments and their supporters on one side and resistance supporters on the other that gives the way to two major narratives: while right-wing imaginaries and pro-government actors frame the liberal and pro-freedom inclinations of universities as a ‘threat’ to the nation, students and faculty portray the government as the true threat to their rights and freedoms and knowledge production within what was once a ‘safe space’ in universities, thus framing themselves as the ‘true guardians’ of their institutions. Our analysis shows how universities have become contemporary flashpoints in and upon which broader political contestations over national culture play out.