The government’s directive has brought the issue of academic freedom into focus, at a time when reports from the United States show how the Trump administration has been exercising increasing control over higher education — and similar trends can be seen within parts of the EU.
“In some way, I think this assignment will eventually make its way through academia,” says Mats Benner, Professor of Research Policy at LUSEM.
He describes academic freedom at Swedish universities as a “moving target.” On one hand, it means that researchers should not be directed or constrained by the state in their choice of research topics; on the other, the state does shape priorities through targeted funding and research initiatives.
“In critical situations, the state has on several occasions intervened to impose its will on various public agencies. And although universities have been governed more loosely than most other authorities, they are still state agencies — and thus part of society’s institutional framework. The current situation, where several universities are refusing to carry out the citizenship test, may also be complicated by the fact that universities have previously said ‘yes’ to other government assignments,” Benner explains.
He describes the relationship between the state and universities as a long, costly, and complex chain of decisions, where the flow of funding and political will have historically influenced academic freedom.
As a contrast, he points to the United States, where academic freedom has arguably been stronger than in Sweden. The U.S. has no ministry of education, and universities there have traditionally relied more on private than public funding. However, this freedom is not equally distributed: some institutions, such as Harvard, have endowments worth tens of billions of kronor, providing a degree of independence and prestige that many other universities cannot afford.
Finally, Mats Benner believes that the question of the citizenship test will, in the end, be accepted by Swedish academia — but if it is, the larger issue will be what role universities can and should play in relation to the state in the future.