What constitutes a democratic university: a German perspective

Abstract

This article engages with the idea of a democratic university in the light of the current academic protest movement at German universities. It considers the unique situation of labour rights in the context of German laws and their imminent reform, as well as the birth of new kinds of academic protest in the wake of the recent Covid lockdowns. The article recalls Jacques Derrida's 1998 proposal for a democratic 'unconditional university' and critically reviews Derrida's arguments vis-á-vis the current situation