The University Under Threat: Academic Freedom, Authoritarianism, and Resistance

This article examines how globally rising new authoritarianism intervenes in academic life through a case study, Boğaziçi University in Turkey. Drawing on in-depth interviews, campus observations, and documentary sources, it also critiques the limitations of the Academic Freedom Index in capturing context-specific threats to academic freedom. The study proposes an alternative framework that includes political participation and horizontal governance as core dimensions. The article argues that the emerging resistance to the violation of academic freedom not only challenges authoritarian tendencies and interventions but also actively redefines academic freedom.