G – THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH UNI RANKINGS 2018

Posted on February 20, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged censorship, cultural appropriation, featured, freedom of speech, FSUR, journalism, league tables, Never OK, no platforming, privilege, sexual harassment, sombrero gate, spiked, students, students' unions, UEA, UEA SU, universities.

by Robyn Banks

Content warning: mentions sexual harassment

This month, Spiked launched their newest Freedom of Speech University Rankings for 2018. The fourth edition of the rankings, which started in 2015, are an ‘assessment’ of freedom of speech on our campuses. Spiked’s methodology is simplistic. They look at the policies and actions of both universities and their students’ unions (SUs), ranging from the no-platforming of controversial speakers to their codes of conduct. They then give each uni and each SU a rank of red, amber or green, and give an overall ranking to each institution based on these two scores.

CHALLENGING MISCONCEPTIONS IN THE CAMPUS FREE SPEECH DEBATE

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academia, activism, campaigning, controversy, democracy, depoliticisation, featured, free speech, government, grassroots, hate speech, HE policy, higher education, jo johnson, marketisation, media, mental health, neoliberalism, no platforming, politics, power, protest, racism, representation, state, student welfare, students, students' unions, transphobia, universities, university finance.

by Bradley Allsop

Over the last 8 years, higher education in the UK has been subject to some of the largest and most invasive reforms in its history, guided by a deliberate, neoliberal project with the aim of crafting a marketised sector. This has set a new bar for invasive reforms that is now extending into the murky realms of the ‘free speech’ debate, with recently departed universities minister Jo Johnson proposing the illogical and frankly dangerous step of imposing fines on universities whose students’ unions fail to support free speech on campus.

WE CAN’T JUST WAIT FOR FREE EDUCATION – NCAFC WINTER CONFERENCE

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged #FreeEdNOW, bigotry, boycott, conference, Cut the Rent, democratic education, demonstration, direct action, education workers, fascism, Free Education, free speech, GE17, HE policy, higher education, history, jeremy corbyn, KEF, Labour, Labour manifesto, left wing, living grants, local campaigns, marketisation, NCAFC, no platforming, nss, NSS Boycott, NUS, Picturehouse, Picturehouse strike, progressive taxation, protest, REF, Research and HE Bill, solidarity, strike action, student activism, student media, student movement, students, students' unions, tef, terfs, trans liberation, tuition fees, UCL, universities.

by Lewis Jarrad

On the 9th-10th December, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) put on its 2017 Winter Conference in Liverpool. Taking place less than a month after their national demonstration, which advocated for free education and universal living grants funded by taxing the rich, the conference was a chance for student activists across the UK to strategise and discuss where we can go next in the fight for a free and democratic education system. Campuses represented included Liverpool, Manchester, UCL, UAL, KCL, Warwick, Sheffield, Abertay, Oxford and Cambridge. As a first year UCL student who was involved in the national demo, I went along to learn more about NCAFC and how I could get more involved in the campaign.

TRADING FREEDOMS – THE OFFICE FOR STUDENTS PROPOSALS

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academics, Cardiff University, censorship, clampdown, debate, establishment, freedom, freedom of choice, freedom of speech, germaine greer, government, HEFCE, higher education, jo johnson, mainstream media, no platforming, office for students, power, regulation, rights, safe spaces, safeguarding, student politics, student power, students, students' unions, transphobia, universities.

by Robyn Banks

CW: mentions transphobia

‘Universities must bring back freedom of speech!’ That was the premise of various headlines surrounding Jo Johnson’s announcement last week of proposed powers for the Office for Students (OfS). One of those proposals is that universities and student unions that don’t conform to Johnson and the OfS’ concept of ‘freedom of speech’ could receive sanctions in the form of fines. While the powers of OfS are still only at the consultation stage, this announcement gives us a rather concerning insight into the plans and aims that Johnson has for the newly formed office.

THE RIGHT ARE RUNNING SCARED – A RESPONSE TO TOM WELSH

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Norwich Radical in Student and tagged academia, academic work, academics, access, alternative facts, capitalists, career, Chris Hanretty, City AM, commentary, education, elitism, experts, free market, GE17, general election, graduates, HE policy, higher education, historians, hyperbole, hypocrisy, inequality, Institute of Economic Affairs, jeremy corbyn, King's College London, Labour, left wing, marketisation, Michael Gove, no platforming, Oxford University, policy, private universities, privatisation, research, right wing, safe spaces, sensationalism, socialism, student debt, Taxpayers' Alliance, The Telegraph, Times Higher Education, Tom Welsh, Tories, tuition fees, u-turn, UEA, uk, universities, voters.

by Robyn Banks

In the midst of right-wing confusion about Jeremy Corbyn’s continuing support amongst the young, following a supposed u-turn on his flagship policy to scrap student debt, Tom Welsh of the Telegraph has unveiled a new thesis: the left will continue its resurgence so long as too many go to university*. His argument is as ridiculous as the title makes it sound, and his article is full of claims that are absurd, patronising and completely unsupported.

no platforming

NOT AS SIMPLE AS R/A/G – THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH UNI RANKINGS 2018

CHALLENGING MISCONCEPTIONS IN THE CAMPUS FREE SPEECH DEBATE

WE CAN’T JUST WAIT FOR FREE EDUCATION – NCAFC WINTER CONFERENCE

TRADING FREEDOMS – THE OFFICE FOR STUDENTS PROPOSALS

THE RIGHT ARE RUNNING SCARED – A RESPONSE TO TOM WELSH

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