Spiral of Silence: Is Self-censorship Threatening Academic Freedom?

In this instalment of our House Series, Pippa Norris discusses concerns that academic freedom is threatened by growing demands for intellectual conformity and attempted censorship. She seeks to understand the nature and scope of contemporary threats to academic freedom of expression around the world, and the role of self-censorship in particular.

Free speech is the bedrock of democracy, creative thinking, scientific innovation, civic activism, and scholarly inquiry – and it includes the right to hold views that run counter to majority opinion.

Today, however, in many liberal democracies, there is concern that academic freedom is under threat from commercial, governmental, and social forces. In such a climate of intellectual conformity, universities’ core mission is indeed impoverished.

Cancel culture

Amid the so-called ‘woke wars’, either the liberal progressive left, or the socially conservative right – or both – stand accused of suppressing the voices of their perceived enemies. This ‘cancel culture’ aims to silence any speech deemed derogatory, hostile, factually incorrect, or morally offensive.

But just how far do scholars censor their language in the classroom, in their research, and on social media, to conceal their true beliefs?

Survey data insights

Pippa Norris analyzed survey data from the 2023 ECPR-IPSA World of Political Science survey, which recorded the views of almost 2,000 political scientists in around 100 countries. These valuable insights deepen our understanding of the spiral-of-silence process of self-censorship in higher education. They hold important lessons for policies that protect viewpoint diversity in the academy.

Pippa will discuss the implications of the WPS survey findings, and consider the next steps in the research agenda.

Free and open to all

All instalments in our House Series are FREE to attend and open to scholars from ECPR member and non-member institutions.