Reclaiming Our Centre

Towards a Robust Defence of Academic Autonomy

Abstract

In recent years, the autonomy of academics in many countries has been progressively undermined by a number of local, national and international developments. The purpose of this paper is to reveal how academic autonomy is being infringed. It aims also to critique the ways in which academics have been responding – both individually and collectively – to these infringements. Specifically, we argue that the ways in which academics have been defending against the erosion of their autonomy actually serves to further advance this process. We attribute this paradox to academics’ impoverished conception of professional autonomy and reassert a more robust conception and practice of academic autonomy as a means of remedying the situation.