Academic Freedom
The years since 1981 have been one of the three of four lowest points in the relationship between the Universities and the State in 800 years of English history. Conrad Russell looks at the dispute which has implications for academic freedom.
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The ideal of academic freedom is the cornerstone of higher education, and one of the most important manifestations of freedom of thought and expression. In Academic Freedom, Conrad Russell draws on his extensive knowledge of the worlds of academia and government to provide an assessment of what government can and cannot do without impinging on academic freedom. He is further aided by the philosophical influence of his father, Bertrand Russell, whose academic career notoriously tested the limits of what academic freedom means in a democratic society. Rapid and controversial changes in the organization of higher education have had important implications for academic freedom. Since 1981, the relationship between the universities and the government in England has been at one of its lowest points. Conrad Russell achieves a new vision of the boundary between the traditional autonomy and academic freedom of universities and the authority of the government. Written from aliberal Democratic point of view, Academic Freedom provides a historical and philosophical account of the nature of academic freedom, and a thorough study of universities' claims to autonomy and the limits of the government's power to plan. By examining the rights and conflicting demands of the two, Russell redefines the powers of both.
