The Academic Freedom Index (AFI) is a unique initiative that aims to conceptualize and measure academic freedom worldwide. This project assesses the current state of academic freedom worldwide based on five key indicators. These core indicators are freedom of research and teaching, freedom of scholarly exchange and dissemination, institutional autonomy, campus integrity, and freedom of academic and cultural expression.
The AFI was developed by scholars in Germany and Sweden. The project is led by Prof. Dr. Staffan Lindberg, Director of the Varieties Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at the University of Gothenburg, Prof. Dr. Katrin Kinzelbach and Dr. Lars Pelke of the Institute of Political Science at the Fredrich Alexander University (FAU), and Janika Spannagel of the Freie Universität Berlin. The project is supported by a five-year grant from the Volkswagen Foundation.
In brief, the researchers’ basic approach is as follows: Academic freedom is a human right and a prerequisite for research and development. Most of the world’s 171 countries have legally committed themselves to ensuring these freedoms under the UN Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to “respect fundamental freedoms for scientific research and creative work” (Article 15.3). Unfortunately, these binding legal commitments signed by countries do not mean that academic freedom has been achieved. Although states have made these commitments, their implementation varies widely.
The AFI is based on assessments by 2,197 experts from different countries worldwide, standardized surveys, and well-established statistical models applied and adapted by the V-Dem project. The V-Dem Project is known for producing robust data on various dimensions of democracy. The Academic Freedom Index uses a Bayesian measurement model for data collection. With this model, they provide point estimates and make it possible to report measurement uncertainty in global assessments of academic freedom transparently. Users must consider this uncertainty when comparing scores across countries and over time.
The Index was constructed for the first time based on the actual use of academic freedoms as of December 2022. As such, it provides an overview of academic freedom in 179 countries and territories. What is striking about these reports is the gradual decline in academic freedom worldwide. Over the past decade, academic freedoms have been significantly curtailed in 22 countries home to more than 50% of the world’s population (approximately 4 billion people). Over the same period, academic freedom has improved significantly in only five small countries, representing only 0.7% of the world’s population. Academic freedoms have stagnated in most countries and are generally very low (152).
Countries where academic freedom has been seriously restricted in the past decade include China, India, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, Ukraine, El Salvador, Comoros, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Mexico, Thailand, Yemen, Nicaragua, Belarus, Uruguay, England, Poland, the United States, and Myanmar. Among these countries, China, Turkey, Egypt, Nicaragua, Belarus, and Myanmar are in Category E (the lowest category), the lowest level in the academic freedom classification. On the other hand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the Seychelles, Montenegro, and the Gambia are countries where academic freedom has improved significantly.
More information about the research and the index can be found on the index’s website: https://academic-freedom-index.net/
