In the morning there was a text message from the organizer asking her to give “today’s lecture a little less politically charged in view of the current conflict”.
– I replied that I cannot adapt my message, I have to hold on to my academic freedom, says Rebecca Selberg, docent in sociology and gender studies at Lund University.
The message was then that she was not allowed to give her lecture, which, among other things, was about the working environment in healthcare. The organizer believed that the content did not go down well with some of the audience due to the current healthcare conflict.
– Many thought that the lecture pitted groups against each other. We chose not to repeat it on day two, says Ola Björgell, chairman of Region Skåne’s Equality Academy.
See more in the feature above about the criticism that researchers should be allowed to have their academic freedom.