Click here to discover all issues of the GCHRJ

Permanent URI for this community

https://reponew.gchumanrights.org/handle/20.500.11825/29

Browse

Browsing Click here to discover all issues of the GCHRJ by Subject "academic freedom"
  • Item
    A critical review of the relationship between academic freedom and democracy in Ghana’s public universities: From pre-independence to the Fourth Republic
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2021) Appiagyei-Atua, Kwadwo
    The present work undertakes a critical assessment of academic freedom at Ghana’s public universities. Attention is placed on how the laws enacted to regulate the functioning of public universities have influenced or are likely to influence respect for academic freedom in public universities in Ghana. The paper seeks to articulate a correlation between the democratic credentials and the level of respect for academic freedom on the country’s university campuses. Three key decisions taken by the present government which threaten academic freedom are discussed. They are: the incidents leading to the closure of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in October 2018; the tensions arising in the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG); and the unsuccessful attempt by the government to enact the Public Universities Bill 2020. To deal with the threat to academic freedom through managerialism, the paper calls for the democratisation of academic freedom on university campuses. This is premised on the fulfilment of responsibilities attached to the enjoyment of academic freedom by members of the academic community—the university, academics and students—towards each other. The place of the State, as the principal dutybearer in the academic freedom matrix, is considered as pivotal in facilitating this process.
  • Item
    Universities’ responsibilities to respect and protect human rights transnationally: A critical discussion of collaboration and exchange between the UK and China
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2023) Genoud, Christelle ; Pils, Eva
    Engaging with a debate on universities’ responsibilities to protect human rights amidst rising concern about the influence of autocratically governed China, we argue that the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights apply to universities, be it because universities are business enterprises, or because the principles contained in the UNGP are a fortiori relevant to universities. Drawing on the example of UK universities, we show that the UNGP are relevant for universities as “education providers and exporters” to protect academic freedom against China’s transnational repression. A review of selected current ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ law documents shows not only that to protect academic freedom, there is a need to further concretize the UNGP for the higher education sector, but also that effective protection requires corrections to universities’ overly commercialised funding structures.