Cancel Culture’ at the University: Results from an Adversarial Collaboration

On behalf of the Global Challenges Research Group at the Department of Government, you are warmly invited to a talk by Richard Traunmüller on a topic that is relevant beyond research themes, beyond subjects, and even disciplines: ‘cancel culture’ and academic freedom. It would be great if you could share this invitation widely in your networks. Everyone is welcome, students in particular.

In this talk, Prof. Richard Traunmüller will present findings from three survey experiments, conducted as an adversarial collaboration, that explore why students support restrictions on academic speech. The results show that a substantial share of university students endorse viewpoint-based restrictions on academic discourse. They apply academic and pro-social criteria selectively, especially to conservative viewpoints, and assess conservative statements as more socially harmful. These patterns suggest that support for “cancel culture” at universities cannot be reduced to neutral academic standards or generic concern for social harm. Rather they reflect ideological viewpoint discrimination with important implications for debates about academic freedom and campus discourse.