In her new book, Policing Higher Education: The Antidemocratic Attack on Scholars and Why It Matters (Johns Hopkins University Press), Eve Darian-Smith, UC Irvine global and international studies and law Distinguished Professor, explores on-going and increasing threats to academic freedom at home and abroad. Using a global framework to examine instances of arrests, surveillance, curriculum control, denial of tenure, and more, she exposes intense and connected struggles over economic, political, and social power at the core of this international crisis. Below, she contextualizes these challenges alongside a global trend toward authoritarianism, urging a reexamination of the critical role universities play in safeguarding democracy.

• Hear more from Darian-Smith in our Experts On series.
• Attend Darian-Smith’s book launch event hosted online by AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom on Tuesday, May 13, 3:00 p.m. PDT. Event will feature a live Q&A with the author. Learn more and register online.

Q: Your book, Policing Higher Education, comes at a time of significant crisis in the academic world. Why do you believe this book is particularly needed right now, and what motivated you to address these issues?

A: My book explores two interconnected global trends – rising antidemocracy and declining academic freedom. I argue that what is happening in the U.S. regarding the attack on scholars, students and university autonomy needs to be understood as part of a global assault on the censoring of knowledge production. I was motivated to write about this issue because most people, both inside and outside the academy, are clueless about the far-right assault on higher education in recent years and what this means in terms of undermining democracy more generally.

Tragically, today what we are experiencing is a full-on assault on colleges by the MAGA Republican party and the allies who support its political and economic agenda. As J.D. Vance has proclaimed, “professors are the enemy”. This rhetoric picks up conservative’s anti-intellectual stance toward higher education that has been around for decades. But the scale and ferocity of today’s attack on universities and colleges is unprecedented. And with the return of Trump to U.S. presidency, the threat to higher education has greatly intensified. Trump has warned that when he takes office in January 2025, he will shut down the Department of Education, limit federal funding for research, denounce climate science and scholarly expertise, and aggressively police what can be researched and discussed in classrooms.

Q: Your work discusses the use of surveillance technologies and policing of protest alongside curriculum control and denial of tenure. Could you elaborate on some of the practices your book examines?

A: Censorship and surveillance over what people think takes various forms.  It can happen directly through monitoring what is taught in the classroom and removing or firing those who don’t comply. Riot police on campus grounds can help enforce these directives. But surveillance can also take insidious forms that we often don’t think about, creating a sense of perceived threats that can have emotional and psychological impacts. My book examines the corporatization of the university and the rise of adjunct lecturers who make up about 70% of all faculty. These precariat scholars are not able to speak up and protest interference in the classroom for fear of losing their jobs. But I also examine a relatively new phenomenon of scholars and students being policed by cameras and surveillance equipment that includes monitoring people’s social media profiles. Adding to the problem is the far-right coopting students to record classroom discussions on their phones which can lead to cyberbullying, harassment and doxing. All these efforts have a chilling effect on research and learning. In a very material sense, people are being disciplined to self-censor and not speak up, afraid of real and imminent threats. This is what the far-right wants - to create an environment of fear where no one will challenge their antidemocratic authority to govern.

Q: Your book connects educational conflicts in the U.S. with similar struggles in other democracies. How do you see these global patterns influencing one another, and what are the unique challenges or similarities in how different countries are experiencing this crisis?

A: Many countries around the world are experiencing a lean towards authoritarianism, including the United States. And what is emerging is a global cadre of extremist political figures who share strategies and advice on how to build their antidemocratic regimes. This international far-right leadership may differ in terms of religious orientation, political ideology and domestic goals. But common to all these extremists is the need to control public education and ensure that young people and future generations think as they do and obey orders. A clear example is the dictator Victor Orbán, president of Hungary, who gutted the country’s higher education sector, stacked it with his own loyalist appointees, and brought universities under his direct control. Trump greatly admires Orbán, and we must brace ourselves for similar legislative assaults on public education at all levels in the coming years.

Q: In your research, you’ve highlighted poignant stories of the resilience of scholars and students in the face of rising adversity. Can you share one or two of these stories, and explain how they illustrate the broader threats to academic freedom and democracy?

A: I thought it very important to humanize the stories from scholars and students who have come under attack, and to make their narratives of violence and grief about losing their jobs and leaving their homelands relatable to a wider audience. Many scholars from places such as Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Cameroon, Afghanistan and now Ukraine and Gaza have been arrested, imprisoned, and sometimes tortured. Their extraordinarily brave tales are very moving as they come to terms with leaving their community and living in exile. Closer to home, in Republican-led states such as Texas, Florida and North Carolina, the stories of scholars under attack typically don’t involve direct violence but are still very moving and involve long-term emotional and psychological impacts. Revealingly, as a department chair, I am receiving many emails from scholars seeking to move from red states to blue states and work in a less repressive university system. How long California’s higher education sector will be able to hold off the interference of a second Trump administration is not clear, but I am very worried.

Q: Looking forward, what impact do you hope Policing Higher Education will have on the public discourse around academic freedom and democracy? What changes would you like to see in both the academic world and in how society perceives the role of higher education?

A: My modest hope is that my book will speak to a wide audience, both inside and outside the academy. I want to open up conversations about the value of academic freedom and higher education in general, while also appreciating its limitations in terms of being incredibly expensive and demographically exclusive. Despite these shortcomings, going to university is vital for training people to question their assumptions and think critically about the world. And importantly, academic freedom is central to revisioning more inclusive democratic societies that respect diverse worldviews and encourage innovative ideas that drive new jobs and solutions. I argue that being able to think, study, discuss and share knowledge without fear of censorship is essential for everyone, irrespective of your age, gender or sexual orientation, religion, class, race, ethnicity or educational background. This is an urgent and timely message as we face a new era of unprecedented political repression.

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Attend Darian-Smith’s book launch event hosted online by AAUP’s Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom on Tuesday, May 13, 3:00 p.m. PDT. Event will feature a live Q&A with the author. Learn more and register online.