Freedom

Freedom

In better societies, one is free to be offensive.

However, getting paid to be offensive?

Most of us learned, earlier in our careers, that being cranky and controversial could affect one's employment.

Still fun as a hobby, however.

Professor of Sports Politics, indeed.

Originally shared by ****

My long-term employer, the University of Warwick, comes off quite well out of this. I don’t know whether anyone kept score, but I may have been the most-complained-about person in that institution. There is no space here to list the many issues and there were many outlets, with New Society and The Daily Telegraph being the most frequent. When I had succeeded in offending people, the various representatives of the university responded properly by saying it was my opinion and that I was entitled to express it while in their employ without their having to approve it in any sense. I certainly wasn’t ostracised. I might have suffered in terms of promotion (I was turned down several times), but the leaks from the mysterious Promotions Committee suggested that it was my willingness to sound off about almost anything other than the subject I was listed as lecturing on that was held against me rather than any particular content.

Sadly, I think it has become increasingly difficult to behave as I did. Members of the current generation of academics are constrained by lack of tenure, research pressure and a vague culture of hard work and conformity. Those with power in universities want greater conformity because of image concerns, overseas students and many other sources of stress. It’s difficult to criticise China when the People’s Republic sends you 2,000 lucrative students and it’s difficult to criticise Islam full stop.

via Joerg Fliege 
https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/why-i-should-be-free-to-cause-offence?nopaging=1

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