Over the past ten years, both academic freedom and university autonomy have been in decline in many countries around the globe, as analyses of the Academic Freedom Index (AFI) data show. This introductory chapter establishes the purpose and scope of the book and introduces the AFI dataset as one...

This chapter discusses the concepts of academic freedom and university autonomy – and their interrelation – arising from international standards. It argues that university autonomy is a fundamental requirement for academic freedom to be enjoyed by researchers and students. Turning to the...

This chapter introduces the five qualitative case studies written by country experts on Bangladesh, India, Mozambique, Poland, and Turkey, which serve to deepen an understanding of current trajectories regarding academic freedom and university autonomy through in-depth description and analysis....

This chapter sets out three central hypotheses on decline in university autonomy, with illustrative examples from eight qualitative case studies (Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, Mozambique, Poland, Russia, and Turkey) and the Academic Freedom Index data (AFI). The three hypotheses are the...

This final chapter discusses how university autonomy can be upheld and protected in a global environment of increasing attacks. It argues that strengthened international standards for institutional autonomy and self-governance of higher education institutions (HEIs), including international...