With fascist and authoritarian movements on the rise worldwide, education is increasingly under attack. From the US-American vice president JD Vance openly proclaiming that “universities are the enemy”, to ideologically-motivated budget cuts to education in the Netherlands, there is increasing pressure on institutions to disavow the important role of universities as sites for critical scholarship. Throughout modern history, universities have been a rallying point for social and political—often student-led—movements that have pushed the political agenda beyond the prevailing ‘common sense’. With this symposium, we wish to connect to this radical history of the university, and express our solidarity with people in other places where higher education is under attack.  

We bring together contributions that speak to the value of a ‘critical education’ beyond neoliberal imperatives of addressing ‘labour market shortages’, and against the authoritarian attack on critical scholarship—especially feminist, queer, trans and critical race theory. The interventions can be based on a reading of, or engagement with, a classical or contemporary philosopher, demonstrating the ongoing importance of philosophical inquiry for reflecting on the role (and limits) of education. Rather than merely anticipating and preparing for future cuts, we wish to create space for an open conversation about the value of what we do, as teachers and students, and about our ongoing commitment to the ‘critical university’ in authoritarian times.

Program

10.30-12.00 Critical Education under Attack

Marjolein Lanzing: Authoritarian Intelligence

Shahin Nasiri: Are Universities Still Bastions of Freedom? Which Freedom—and Whose?

Yolande Jansen: Elite Capture of Social Safety Regulations at the Universities: The Case of ‘Combating Antisemitism‘

Stefan Niklas: On the Imaginary Institution of the University

13.00-14.30 The Unconditional University 

Yonathan Listik: University Without Conditions: The Relevance of Derrida‘s Text Today

Daniel Loick: The Conflict of the Faculties

N.N.: Kant and the Public Use of Reason

Thomas Nys: "The ‘Bildung’ is on Fire!" On the Intrinsic Value of Higher Education

15.00-16.15 Defending Critical Education

Yorgos Karagiannopoulos: Critical Education within the University Means Empowering the Social Movements in the Vicinity

Michael Thomas: “Living Thought in Trying Times”: Reflections in Black Thought

Jana Cattien: Why Gender & Critical Race Theory?

Contribution by Research Master Students

Organized by the Philosophy and Public Affairs Capacity Group and the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA)