The interview examines how universities are deploying police against their own students and faculty, weaponizing “safety” rhetoric, and using accusations of anti-Semitism to silence legitimate criticism of state violence and settler colonialism. Akarsu also addresses how budget cuts in higher education are intensifying academic precarity. This creates additional layers of insecurity where academics on temporary positions risk their livelihoods when speaking out on critical issues, adding mechanisms for punishing those doing critical work.
The interview highlights EASA’s response through the Working Group on Human Rights and Academic Freedom, which is monitoring violations, gathering evidence, and creating support structures for affected scholars.
This dialogue between EASA and APLA represents an important collaboration in addressing threats to academic freedom on both sides of the Atlantic. As EASA, we are deeply grateful to American Ethnologist for creating a platform for such critical conversations in these challenging times.