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That Harper's piece is a WTF. So here we are and I am now going to do a thread about free speech and academic freedom. Because people seem unable to understand what those things are especially in higher ed circles. You can begin here w/ @Prof_FSultana: https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1715
And then go back to this piece from Joshua Clover : https://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/essays/free-speech-year/
And then go to this b/c I love how all these "liberals" have been duped by fascist concern trolls. This has been documented in media pieces: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/portland-speech-milo-antifa-koch/
Oh let's not forget this one, from 2018: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/26/the-free-speech-panic-censorship-how-the-right-concocted-a-crisis
Let us call it what it is, "MORAL PANIC" from Liberals about free speech and academic freedom but without actual discussion of what those two terms actually mean legally in the US. You can go back to @Prof_FSultana excellent piece which pointed out free speech is not the same
as academic freedom. So here is a lesson with hopefully something that is not considered "controversial" (but hey these days everything is). Let us say someone wants to say "the moon is made of cheese" and wishes to protest w/ signs & tell people that.
You can do that, that is free speech. However, if other people want to protest you saying the "moon is made of cheese" by saying your statement has no scientific evidence or is based in fact, they can say that and protest you. That is also free speech.
If the "the moon is made of cheese" protestor sends violent threats and "incite violence" or as the 1969 US Supreme Court case Brandenburg vs. Ohio states: "there is no free speech right to advocate for violence when there is a likelihood that violence will actually occur."
Then "the moon is made of cheese" protestor's free speech is not protected because it "incites violence." As so many fascists/white supremacists/far right/alt right types have already demonstrated that they expect violence to occur, that seems pretty clear.
Now for academic freedom. Academic freedom as @Prof_FSultana excellent articles explains is about academic expertise & quality control. Yes you heard that right, "RIGOR." So, I do not know (but #STEM folks feel free to correct me) any Astronomy Dept. inviting a speaker
to campus to who giving a talk about "how the moon is made of cheese." Academics have the right to say, there is no evidence that the moon is made of cheese, & this person saying alt-facts should not be given an invite to talk b/c there is no scholarly evidencefor this statement.
So unless you think fascist propaganda, white supremacist propaganda, flat earthers, folks who believe "the moon is made of cheese," is "RIGOROUS" b/c this is the "academic rigor" you uphold in your departments & area, this Harper's statement is nothing but academic MORAL PANIC.
Also, it just shows how much you have bought into the white supremacist/fascist propaganda machine. They have played you really well. Apparently critical thinking skills or research into fascist history seems something people do not want to do.
Feel free to reread and cite this excellent @Prof_FSultana piece. Because it lays it all out explicitly: https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1715
