Civil clauses under pressure: Will research for armaments soon be carried out in Kassel?

Research that is exclusively committed to peaceful purposes? This claim may soon be a thing of the past at the University of Kassel. So far, the civil clause in the basic regulations has prohibited armaments research. In its current form, however, this is now on a knife's edge. On Wednesday, the University Senate will vote on changing the clause.

A new version from the Senate no longer explicitly excludes research for military purposes. Instead, an appeal is made to the personal responsibility of researchers and teachers. They are now only encouraged to “contribute to the peaceful coexistence of people” with their actions and to be “aware of the problem of distinguishing between the civilian and potentially military benefits of their actions.”

According to a press spokesman for the university, this is because, for example, in view of hybrid wars, it is now very difficult to distinguish between civilian and potentially military use of research results.

Voices against this possible decision have been loud for months. With petitions and rallies, students and employees at the university are campaigning for the preservation and protection of the civil clause in its current form. Alisa Kötze from the student initiative “Civil Clause Remains!” fears that the softening could lead to research “only focusing on the profit interests of the arms industry” “instead of focusing on people’s needs and pressing social questions”. This represents “a break for the freedom of research and teaching at our university”.

The initiative clearly sees a vote for the change as a division of the university and as ignorance of the voice of the students. In a ballot in October, 82 percent were clearly in favor of the current form of the civil clause.

According to its own statements, the initiative also sought exchange with the Senate. Whether the talks or the ballot have an influence on his decision will only become clear after the vote.

The slogan “Hands off the civil clause!” has been going on all over Hesse for some time now. called upon by trade unions and student representatives to campaign for the civil clause in the basic regulations and against militarization at colleges and universities. Verdi also recently supported this call.

After the Second World War, some German universities adopted civil clauses as a lesson from National Socialism. However, they are handled very differently from region to region. While they are enshrined in law in some federal states, Bavaria obliges universities to cooperate with the military. Since the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine and Germany's rearmament policy, civil clauses have been under increasing pressure.