Universities unbound:Universities as sites of human rights activism and protection in an era of democratic crisis

This article champions the potential for universities to play an enhanced role supporting human rights activism and protection in the context of democratic crisis. The challenges such an agenda faces are significant. In addition to global trends such as democratic backsliding and shrinking civic and political space, universities themselves exhibit “two faces,” as sites of violence and exclusion as well as of more progressive values, and are caught between the pincer movement of privatization and increasing state interference. However, universities often enjoy more autonomy than civil society groups. Drawing on core values such as academic freedom and social justice, and particular qualities—legitimacy, status, access to knowledge, resources, and local and global networks—universities have both the potential and the responsibility to act. The article identifies four roles universities can play in relation to activism and protection: instigators, incubators (of ideas, values, and organizations), collaborators, and protectors. Three forms of protection—of people, values, and knowledge—are interdependent, with activists more likely to feel protected if their values and knowledge are reflected within universities. Ultimately, if universities do not support others, who will be left to defend them when attacks intensify on universities themselves?