030 // What happens to academic freedom under authoritarianism? The case of Hungary & Central European University

Kathryn Exon Smith -

Three years ago the Hungarian government passed new legislation on higher education that resulted in the expulsion of Central European University (CEU) from Budapest - the first time a university in Europe has been forced into exile since World War II. CEU, a private university founded by George Soros and regarded as an institution of liberal thought in the increasingly far-right political context of Hungary, was relocated to Vienna.

Why is there a rising authoritarianism taking place within the European Union, and what impact is it having on academic freedom, critical pedagogy, and independent research? In this salon, Sara will draw from her experience living, studying, and politically organizing in Budapest to talk about how CEU was forced out of Hungary, what tensions this caused between students and university administrators, and how activists tried to tie the issue of academic freedom to wider societal concerns within the political environment of Hungary. Importantly, what broader lessons about intellectual work under authoritarianism can we learn from the case of CEU?

Sara is a PhD candidate in Sociology and Social Anthropology at Central European University. Since 2012 she has lived off and on between Toronto and Budapest, where she has been involved in activism around academic freedom, student-worker solidarity, and migrant justice.

Viktor Orbán’s War on Intellect
As the Hungarian prime minister systematically undermined his own country’s education system, one institution stood defiant: a university in the heart of Budapest, founded by George Soros.
The AtlanticFranklin Foer
Manifesto of the CEU Radical Student Collective - Lefteast
Note from the LeftEast editors: The Central European University – a private University in Budapest founded by George Soros’s Open Society Foundation – has attracted the attention of the world media with its strife against the Victor Orban government in Hungary. A struggle over its right to remain in…
LefteastRadical Student Collective

This salon took place October 30, 2020.