The Social Foundations of Academic Freedom: Heterogeneous Institutions in World Society, 1960 to 2022

IF 7.1 1区社会学 Q1 SOCIOLOGY

American Sociological Review Pub Date : 2023-12-30 DOI:10.1177/00031224231214000

Julia C. Lerch, David John Frank, Evan Schofer

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article analyzes academic freedom worldwide with newly available cross-national data. The literature principally addresses impingements on academic freedom arising from religion or repressive states. Academic freedom has broadly increased since 1945, but we see episodic reversals, including in recent years. Conventional work emphasizes the uniformity of international institutional structures and their influence on countries. We attend to the heterogeneity of international structures in world society and theorize how they contribute to ebbs and flows of academic freedom. Post-1945 liberal international institutions enshrined key rights and norms that bolstered academic freedom worldwide. Alongside them, however, illiberal alternatives coexisted. Cold War communism, for instance, anchored cultural frames that justified greater constraints on academia. We evaluate domestic and global arguments using regression models with country fixed effects for 155 countries from 1960 to 2022. Findings support conventional views: academic freedom is associated positively with democracy and negatively with state religiosity and militarism. We also find support for our argument regarding heterogeneous institutional structures in world society. Country linkages to liberal international institutions are positively associated with academic freedom. Illiberal international structures and organizations have the opposite effect. Heterogeneous institutions in world society, we contend, shape large-scale trajectories of academic freedom.

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学术自由的社会基础：1960 至 2022 年世界社会中的异质机构

本文利用新近获得的跨国数据分析了世界范围内的学术自由。文献主要论述了宗教或专制国家对学术自由的侵犯。自 1945 年以来，学术自由度普遍提高，但我们也看到了偶发性的逆转，包括近年来的逆转。传统研究强调国际制度结构的统一性及其对各国的影响。我们关注的是世界社会中国际结构的异质性，并从理论上探讨它们如何导致学术自由的起伏。1945 年后的自由主义国际制度规定了关键的权利和规范，在世界范围内加强了学术自由。然而，与之并存的是非自由主义的替代方案。例如，冷战时期的共产主义确立了对学术界施加更多限制的文化框架。我们使用带有国家固定效应的回归模型，对 1960 至 2022 年间 155 个国家的国内和全球论点进行了评估。研究结果支持传统观点：学术自由与民主正相关，与国家宗教信仰和军国主义负相关。我们还发现，我们关于世界社会异质制度结构的论点也得到了支持。国家与自由国际机构的联系与学术自由正相关。而非自由主义的国际结构和组织则产生相反的影响。我们认为，世界社会中的异质机构塑造了大规模的学术自由轨迹。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

American Sociological Review SOCIOLOGY-

CiteScore

13.30

自引率

3.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit membership association established in 1905. Its mission is to advance sociology as a scientific discipline and profession that serves the public good. ASA is comprised of approximately 12,000 members including faculty members, researchers, practitioners, and students in the field of sociology. Roughly 20% of the members work in government, business, or non-profit organizations. One of ASA's primary endeavors is the publication and dissemination of important sociological research. To this end, they founded the American Sociological Review (ASR) in 1936. ASR is the flagship journal of the association and publishes original works that are of general interest and contribute to the advancement of sociology. The journal seeks to publish new theoretical developments, research results that enhance our understanding of fundamental social processes, and significant methodological innovations. ASR welcomes submissions from all areas of sociology, placing an emphasis on exceptional quality. Aside from ASR, ASA also publishes 14 professional journals and magazines. Additionally, they organize an annual meeting that attracts over 6,000 participants. ASA's membership consists of scholars, professionals, and students dedicated to the study and application of sociology in various domains of society.