Threats to Scholars

The Western stereotype of the academic safely ensconced in the ivory tower is at odds with history’s evidence that intellectuals and divergent thinkers have led dangerous lives in many civilisations. Scholars and students around the world are increasingly experiencing danger, crisis, and insecurity, in a variety of ways. The threats they face range from physical violence to minor censorship, yet are often underwritten by the desire to curtail academic freedom. The capacity of scholars to pursue intellectual projects without interference is itself perceived as a threat in some countries and systems. Scholars may lose their lives or simply be isolated and unsupported in their everyday academic endeavours so that their ideas are suppressed or abandoned.

At both ends of this spectrum, intellectual labour in higher education ...