"Intellectual Diversity" vs. Academic Freedom
libertarians should not defend the concept of "intellectual diversity"
Forum: SWOP-USA list
Date: 04/13/2007
[Below is an exchange over Virginia Commonwealth University provost and vice president's decision to prohibit Sex Workers' Art Show to be hosted at the institution, in response to complaints from students' parents and local politicians.]
On Mar 30, 2007, at 11:27 AM, Holly Pottle wrote:
Gee, I wonder if there's the same level of outrage about college/university money going toward supporting the "anti's" events, such as paying "anti's" to come and speak or the feminist anti-pornography conference that appeared to be presented by Wheelock College. Is there the same level of outrage about colleges/universities paying professors, such as Gail Dines and Katherine MacKinnon, to be on the faculty and promote their anti-sex work agendas? If the anti's have the right to be on college/university campuses, then so do we. It seems like there's a major double standard going on.
Actually, anti-porn/anti-prostitution feminist scholars and speakers aren't necessarily loved by universities either, and their academic positions and credentials are constantly being challenged.
Further, I'm weary of the argument that says "if the anti-porn speakers/scholars have the right to be on campus, so do the other side"--this is precisely the rhetoric of the so-called "intellectual diversity" movement, which is funded and coordinated by far-right think tanks and foundations, and is arguably the worst threat facing academic freedom today. If you don't know what I'm talking about, google "intellectual diversity" and you'll see what I mean. We need to stay as far away as possible from these folks.
Also, while the Sex Workers Art Show is intended to be about breaking down stereotypes and raising awareness, I've heard at more than a few campuses that many students perceived it simply as a strip show that is slightly preachy. Conversations like "did you see the strip show last night?" are common, according to the students I've spoken to. So I can't really say that some parents' responses or the school's position that the content of the show was not something administrators' had expected are completely unreasonable. (I don't mean to defend their banning of SWAS though--I think it should be up to the students, not parents, administrators or politicians, to decide whether or not to invite SWAS again.)
- ek
http://eminism.org/
Date: 04/14/2007
On Apr 14, 2007, at 3:16 AM, Starchild wrote:
The movement for intellectual diversity isn't just supported by the far right. Lots of Libertarians, as well as principled people on the left, support it too. Partly because our views also tend to be shut out at American universities, but also because it's the right thing to do.
[snip]
Besides, more than a few sex workers think conservatives have some good points, just as leftists do. [snip] But even if you believe in using government aggression to forcibly redistribute wealth, and additionally don't believe in the right to self-defense or any of the other freedoms typically advocated by people on the right, it's pretty hard to argue with the idea that university campuses should generally be places where students can be exposed to a wide range of political and intellectual views, rather than places where a single ideology dominates, whether it be liberal, conservative, libertarian, or whatever.
Starchild,
Obviously, if you define "intellectual diversity" to mean students' individual freedom to express their political views freely, then many people other than the far right would support such thing. But that is precisely how the far right deceives the public: when they say intellectual diversity, they aren't actually promoting more freedom, but less. What they advocate for isn't tolerance for unpopular political views, as they sometimes claim, but the suppression of academic freedom on campuses.
I can see that you are using the term "intellectual diversity" to mean something other than what is being promoted on campuses by the nationally coordinated far-right political machine, but it's disingenuous to not acknowledge that the vast majority of those proclaiming such position want to shut out libertarian views as well as liberal ones. And what are libertarians doing defending a political movement that believes in using government aggression to forcibly redistribute political expression on campuses anyway?
If it is the suppression of conservative or libertarian views (or any political views for that matter) that you are concerned about, then we already have the language for that: freedom of speech, or academic freedom in the case of speech on campuses. The "intellectual diversity" movement is not about freedom, but about promotion of far-right political ideology and the censorship of political views of college professors and student groups alike.
- ek
http://eminism.org/