Action week “Science against Fascism” | Anti-fascist science policy?

Science against the right: In order to preserve universities as democratic places, we need to join forces with a broad protest movement. Photo: dpa/Stefan Boness “Science against Fascism” goes into the second round from November 16th to 20th. Back in June, the initiative, which is now supported by over 1,000 scientists from across Germany, called for a nationwide week of action. Since then, two things have changed, as the alliance reported in response to nd's request: In Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD has a real option for power with over 40 percent and a crumbling CDU. Your ideological mastermind Hans-Thomas Tillschneider wants above all to transform the education system - from school to university. On the other hand, the alliance looks at the global youth movement that is taking to the streets in "India and Serbia, Brazil and France" and showing how "politics can be changed in real terms."

By the time of going to press, around 500 extracurricular or repurposed courses had been announced at over 80 universities in the Federal Republic. The alliance particularly emphasizes that almost 40 institutes and universities have joined the call. This requires a “joint process” in which a college exchanges ideas “about their own role, their own scientific and social responsibility in times of fascistation.” On the one hand, this is a good sign internally, and on the other hand, it is a clear signal to the students.

The alliance succinctly describes what threatens Saxony-Anhalt if the AfD were to govern alone. They recognized that universities not only “produce knowledge” but also “negotiate social interpretations”. Anyone who wants to “achieve cultural hegemony” like the new right thinkers, must turn to science. The AfD has long been bombarding researchers with parliamentary questions and questioning the autonomy of universities. With the real power option in the federal state, she will be able to “directly influence budgets, appointments and university laws” in the future.

The alliance proposes to create “resistant structures” against this. These should include strategies “to remain able to act under political pressure” and “to ensure central guidelines for democratic education and free teaching.” This includes preparing student representatives, staff councils and student councils for possible scenarios, legally securing the institutional independence of universities and “standing in solidarity” with those affected by right-wing attacks and attempts at intimidation.

The alliance also calls for nationwide networking in order to develop common standards for dealing with attempts at political influence, to counteract the “fear of colleagues” through precedents and to secure university funding even in the face of further cuts. Last but not least, it is important to maintain and create “lived spaces for critical teaching, discussions and social engagement”.

The biggest sticking point lies in the constitution of the German science system.

The biggest sticking point in building resilient structures from below is undoubtedly the state of the German science system. When asked, the alliance also emphasizes that austerity policies - as can currently be observed in the university sector in large parts of Germany - and fascist tendencies can "cause and reinforce each other."

It has also been observed internationally for decades that autocratic states and politicians have repeatedly made the freedom of teaching and research and universities as a whole the target of their attacks. This became particularly clear at the beginning of Donald Trump's second term in office.

A crucial difference to the German university system, however, lies in the financing: While top American universities have significant private endowments and donations and charge horrendous tuition fees, the universities in the Federal Republic are primarily state-financed, despite being organized according to quasi-market principles - for example through key figures, competition and performance-oriented allocation of funds. This makes them particularly vulnerable when authoritarian and fascist forces begin to occupy the state apparatus and use state funding as political pressure against unwelcome research, teaching and university staff. The fact that there is no need for an AfD-led government can currently be seen in Hesse, for example.

Actually building resilient structures would mean expanding basic funding at the state level and securing it in the long term and finally addressing the practice of chain fixed-term contracts at the federal level. Neither seems to be foreseeable at the moment; rather, opposite developments are emerging. An anti-fascist science policy must therefore take both into account: fascist tendencies from the far right and the enabling conditions of the current science system.

The nationwide week of action can also be an impetus for this. The alliance describes its goal as follows: Universities should be places of “democratic education, social shaping,” “where science can question social power relations.” Whether this succeeds will depend not least on whether a broad youth and protest movement is formed in Germany that is able to challenge social conditions.

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