Academic Freedom in the Age of Polarisation:

This essay by Prof. Sari Hanafi, delivered as the keynote speech at the NIAS Opening of the Academic Year 2026/2027, explores the growing pressures on academic freedom in a polarized society. At its heart is the rise of “Symbolic Liberalism”: liberal in cultural outlook, yet increasingly illiberal in practice. Hanafi connects debates around DEI, securitization, managerialism, unequal hierarchies of voice and colonial legacies to a broader question: what happens when academic, journalistic and artistic freedoms come under pressure at the same time?