Academic Freedom as an Essentially Contested Concept

Discussions of academic freedom are both enriched and complicated by the different meanings attributed to the concept. Recognizing this heterogeneity, we argue that academic freedom might be what Gallie termed an ‘essentially contested concept’ (ECC). We consider the benefits and drawbacks of using the ECC framework, and then delineate Gallie’s criteria for an ECC, showing how academic freedom satisfies them. We then apply the framework by outlining three prominent meanings— the occupational, epistemic, and critical approaches —and consider the implications of each meaning for research and publication, teaching, and intramural and extramural expression. We suggest the three approaches have different strengths and weaknesses. We argue that the epistemic approach— based on a social contract between academics and society —provides the strongest defense during democratic backsliding. Finally, we suggest that future research on US academic freedom would be strengthened by comparing the trajectories of other professions and of other countries.