What is Academic Freedom?

‘A welcome addition to the rather large library of essays and books on academic freedom, Daniel Gordon’s book departs from the assumption that history is a purifying mechanism in the course of which succeeding generations refine and distil a concept or a program. Gordon offers a much more complex account of academic freedom, telling a multi-faceted story from which ‘academic freedom’ emerges not as a term with a single meaning, but as something of a floating signifier that has meant different things at different times and different things at the same time, depending on social and political circumstances inside and outside of the academy.’ – Stanley Fish, Florida International University, USA

'This is a nuanced account of academic freedom controversies -- from World War I-era disputes over wartime limits on academic expression, to the mid-century debate about whether Communists should be allowed to teach, to the current fracas over BDS and academic boycotts. This book’s combination of strong legal and philosophical analysis with vivid personal profiles (of leading figures such as Arthur Lovejoy, Alexander Meiklejohn, and Angela Davis) makes it an original and thought-provoking contribution to academic freedom studies.' - Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law, New York Law School, Emerita Former President, American Civil Liberties Union, 1991–2008

'A very smart tour through the people and ideas behind a century of debate over academic freedom.' - Kenneth S. Stern, director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hateand author of 'The Conflict over The Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate'

'I thought I was familiar with the history of academic freedom in the United States, but Daniel Gordon's fascinating and lively history taught me that there are complexities within the complexities. I recommend this book for anyone who isn't sure what 'academic freedom' means and has meant-- that is to say, almost everybody.' - Michael Bérubé, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature, Pennsylvania State University and co-author (with Jennifer Ruth) of 'It's Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom'

'Daniel Gordon's superb 'What is Academic Freedom?' brings a new level of sophistication to an intensifying debate. At a moment when politicians, activists and even some academics question the ideal of academic freedom, this shrewd and compelling history gives readers a richer understanding of the concept, its past, and its potential future.' John McGreevy, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame and author of Catholicism and American Freedom: A History

"Gordon (history, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) endeavors to describe the various ways academic freedom has been interpreted over the last century. The author then explores the idea that academic freedom protects political advocacy in education as not just permissible, but necessary. This book has value as a chronicle of the debate regarding the extent to which politics and academia can be separated."

--S. R. Fitzgerald, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Choice