'Viewpoint Diversity' and the Erosion of Academic Freedom

Higher education has become a key target for current anti-democratic and far-right political forces seeking to reshape society. Drawing on examples from the Netherlands (Claassen motion), Belgium (Cofnas hire), and the United States (Project 2025), the essay argues that it is important to recognize and connect the dots between different modes of attacks. Alongside the more recognizable measures such as budget cuts, the erosion of academic freedom also proceeds through more subtler strategies like promoting ‘viewpoint diversity’. This concept is currently put forward, the essay contends, to redefine academic freedom, allowing political agendas to challenge established scholarship while undermining rigorous academic standards. The essay offers distinctions between academic freedom and freedom of speech as well as between different understandings of diversity in order to enable us to recognize the deployment of ‘viewpoint diversity’ as a political strategy designed to weaken university autonomy and academic freedom.