AEGIS-The exercise of the right to academic freedom in migration studies: comparative interdisciplinary research
ProjectThis research project aims to respond to the following research questions:
A) how is academic freedom concretely claimed and exercised in the specific field of migration studies?
B) how and to what extent do legal factors influence the full enjoyment of academic freedom in migration studies, accounting for differences and similarities across European countries?
To conduct the analysis, this project deploys a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, using the area of migration studies as a test case. Indeed, the heavy political and social saliency of migration risk putting academic freedom under pressure, conditioning and limiting the way in which it is concretely exercised by universities and academics vis-à-vis politics and society.
Although academic freedom is central to the well-being of our constitutional democracies, the normative and practical dimension of academic freedom still requires to be fully addressed, particularly when it concerns migration studies. This research aims to fill these gaps, exploiting the potentiality embedded in the migration field and the comparative approach to assess how and to what extent academic freedom can be influenced by the peculiar mix of laws and practices assembling in a highly politicized context.
Following the logic of the “most different cases”, the research focuses on three countries: Italy, Germany and the UK. After a critical review of specialistic literature on academic freedom, the study will analyze the relevant normative framework in each of the selected countries, and collect case law, charges, crime reports and disciplinary actions involving universities or academics and the exercise of academic freedom in migration studies. Thereafter, the research will explore how academic freedom is understood, operationalized and limited in reality. To this end, the study will collect documents where academic freedom has been claimed by universities and academics in relation to migration. Next, the research will examine the legal context underlying the exercise of academic freedom in migration issues, in each of the selected countries.
This analysis will serve to detect explicit and implicit legal and institutional barriers to an effective exercise of academic freedom, inquiring the academia-politics relation. The analysis will address relevant legislations and practices, such as those related to academics’ status and incompatibilities, academics’ involvement in auditions, parliamentary or governmental committees, external consultancy, legal drafting related to migration. 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews to relevant actors from academia and politics will be carried out, ensuring an equal representation of gender, age, geographical location of universities and disciplines. Findings emerged will be discussed through a diachronic comparative approach aimed at identifying trends and variances among different countries.
A) how is academic freedom concretely claimed and exercised in the specific field of migration studies?
B) how and to what extent do legal factors influence the full enjoyment of academic freedom in migration studies, accounting for differences and similarities across European countries?
To conduct the analysis, this project deploys a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, using the area of migration studies as a test case. Indeed, the heavy political and social saliency of migration risk putting academic freedom under pressure, conditioning and limiting the way in which it is concretely exercised by universities and academics vis-à-vis politics and society.
Although academic freedom is central to the well-being of our constitutional democracies, the normative and practical dimension of academic freedom still requires to be fully addressed, particularly when it concerns migration studies. This research aims to fill these gaps, exploiting the potentiality embedded in the migration field and the comparative approach to assess how and to what extent academic freedom can be influenced by the peculiar mix of laws and practices assembling in a highly politicized context.
Following the logic of the “most different cases”, the research focuses on three countries: Italy, Germany and the UK. After a critical review of specialistic literature on academic freedom, the study will analyze the relevant normative framework in each of the selected countries, and collect case law, charges, crime reports and disciplinary actions involving universities or academics and the exercise of academic freedom in migration studies. Thereafter, the research will explore how academic freedom is understood, operationalized and limited in reality. To this end, the study will collect documents where academic freedom has been claimed by universities and academics in relation to migration. Next, the research will examine the legal context underlying the exercise of academic freedom in migration issues, in each of the selected countries.
This analysis will serve to detect explicit and implicit legal and institutional barriers to an effective exercise of academic freedom, inquiring the academia-politics relation. The analysis will address relevant legislations and practices, such as those related to academics’ status and incompatibilities, academics’ involvement in auditions, parliamentary or governmental committees, external consultancy, legal drafting related to migration. 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews to relevant actors from academia and politics will be carried out, ensuring an equal representation of gender, age, geographical location of universities and disciplines. Findings emerged will be discussed through a diachronic comparative approach aimed at identifying trends and variances among different countries.