Scholars at Risk’s international office in New York publishes a yearly survey of attacks on higher education around the world. This year, the report documents 391 such attacks in 51 different countries and territories. To quote the report’s preamble:
“Free to Think 2024 demonstrates that attacks on scholars, students, and universities are widespread and can happen anywhere—in closed, authoritarian societies where attacks have long been persistent, and in more open, democratic societies. They are a consequential phenomenon that require the international community’s immediate attention and response.
“This past year saw armed conflicts in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, Ukraine, and Myanmar destroy higher education systems and infrastructure. Authoritarian states cracked down on dissent by arresting and detaining scholars. Globally, university leaders fired and penalized professors for their work on disfavored topics, often doing so under external pressure. Across the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, police responded against mostly peaceful student protests, raising the likelihood that violence would occur. And government officials in Afghanistan, China, and the United States, among other places, used legislation and policy to undermine university autonomy and promote dominant state ideologies.
“Attacks on higher education like these–and the many others reported in Free to Think 2024–do not just harm the immediate victims. Their effects spread to the broader university community, weakening democracy by stifling intellectual inquiry, and chilling the free exchange of ideas. Efforts to undermine academic freedom across all contexts, from liberal to authoritarian, must be taken seriously. Failing to do so will contribute to the erosion of democratic values.”
The full report can be read at the attached link:
https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/resources/free-to-think-2024/