The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has issued a new statement that marks a significant shift from its previous stance outlined in the 2006 report “On Academic Boycotts.” This statement, which was unanimously approved by Committee A on Academic Freedom and adopted by the AAUP Council on August 9, reevaluates the organization’s categorical opposition to academic boycotts.
Historically, the AAUP has argued that academic boycotts could undermine academic freedom, urging faculty and academic associations to seek alternative methods to address their concerns. However, the new statement recognizes that in certain contexts, academic boycotts “can be considered legitimate tactical responses to conditions that are fundamentally incompatible with the mission of higher education,” including severe violations of academic freedom and human rights, such as the rights to life, liberty, and freedom from arbitrary detention. It emphasizes that academic boycotts are not inherently violations of academic freedom and can be justified when aimed at institutions that compromise the fundamental principles of higher education.
The AAUP stresses that individual faculty members and students should have the freedom to evaluate and decide on their participation in academic boycotts without fear of institutional repercussion or censorship, noting, “Faculty members’ choices to support or oppose academic boycotts should not themselves be the basis of formal reprisal.”
The statement asserts that academic boycotts should not involve political or religious litmus tests and should not target individual scholars engaged in routine academic activities, such as publishing, lecturing, or research collaboration.
By focusing on institutions that violate academic freedom, the AAUP aims to safeguard the principles of free expression and communication while acknowledging the complexities of political and social contexts that necessitate such actions. This new position seeks to ensure that academic freedom is both protected and adaptable to diverse global challenges.
