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Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan

Iris Bliss, Jane Gatley Orcid Logo

Journal of Philosophy of Education, Volume: 59, Issue: 2, Pages: 240 - 256

Swansea University Author: Jane Gatley Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/jopedu/qhaf003

Abstract

Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan’s 2021 paper ‘The Gender Wars, Academic Freedom and Education’ holds that activism associated with the slogan ‘trans women are women’ harms progress towards the goals of shared learning and knowledge production. They hold that shared learning and knowledge production...

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Published in: Journal of Philosophy of Education
ISSN: 0309-8249 1467-9752
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68758
first_indexed 2025-01-30T10:13:14Z
last_indexed 2025-04-25T05:19:29Z
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spelling 2025-04-24T14:13:32.0257720 v2 68758 2025-01-30 Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan c4e96c9e3ef14ef3fc4f926397d9ff48 0000-0001-7225-1835 Jane Gatley Jane Gatley true false 2025-01-30 SOSS Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan’s 2021 paper ‘The Gender Wars, Academic Freedom and Education’ holds that activism associated with the slogan ‘trans women are women’ harms progress towards the goals of shared learning and knowledge production. They hold that shared learning and knowledge production ground the value of the university. In response, we point out that academic freedom is not absolute, and that its contribution to learning and knowledge production is only part of a host of academic goods. Given the hostile environment faced by trans people in the UK, absolute academic freedom in relation to questions about sex, gender, and gender identity should not be taken for granted. The focus of this article is on the following: (1) academic freedom is not absolute and should be responsibly curtailed when it causes harm, or hinders other educational goods; (2) public perceptions of ‘gender debates’ in the UK cause harm and hinder other educational goods; (3) academic debates about sex, gender, and gender identity could contribute to this harm and hindrance and should be undertaken only with care. Journal Article Journal of Philosophy of Education 59 2 240 256 Oxford University Press (OUP) 0309-8249 1467-9752 free speech, academic freedom, gender, educational goods, transgender 1 4 2025 2025-04-01 10.1093/jopedu/qhaf003 COLLEGE NANME Social Sciences School COLLEGE CODE SOSS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-04-24T14:13:32.0257720 2025-01-30T10:09:43.5925072 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies Iris Bliss 1 Jane Gatley 0000-0001-7225-1835 2 68758__34101__15e7082900674ca995a133ee70b73623.pdf 68758.VOR.pdf 2025-04-24T14:09:25.4559137 Output 498625 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan
spellingShingle Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan
Jane Gatley
title_short Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan
title_full Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan
title_fullStr Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan
title_full_unstemmed Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan
title_sort Academic freedom, education, and ‘the gender wars’: a response to Suissa and Sullivan
author_id_str_mv c4e96c9e3ef14ef3fc4f926397d9ff48
author_id_fullname_str_mv c4e96c9e3ef14ef3fc4f926397d9ff48_***_Jane Gatley
author Jane Gatley
author2 Iris Bliss
Jane Gatley
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Philosophy of Education
container_volume 59
container_issue 2
container_start_page 240
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0309-8249
1467-9752
doi_str_mv 10.1093/jopedu/qhaf003
publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Education and Childhood Studies
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description Judith Suissa and Alice Sullivan’s 2021 paper ‘The Gender Wars, Academic Freedom and Education’ holds that activism associated with the slogan ‘trans women are women’ harms progress towards the goals of shared learning and knowledge production. They hold that shared learning and knowledge production ground the value of the university. In response, we point out that academic freedom is not absolute, and that its contribution to learning and knowledge production is only part of a host of academic goods. Given the hostile environment faced by trans people in the UK, absolute academic freedom in relation to questions about sex, gender, and gender identity should not be taken for granted. The focus of this article is on the following: (1) academic freedom is not absolute and should be responsibly curtailed when it causes harm, or hinders other educational goods; (2) public perceptions of ‘gender debates’ in the UK cause harm and hinder other educational goods; (3) academic debates about sex, gender, and gender identity could contribute to this harm and hindrance and should be undertaken only with care.
published_date 2025-04-01T05:26:45Z
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