Dr Jessica Gagnon Profile picture
Dec 17, 2022 12 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Every year, the UK government decides, without evidence, that #FreedomOfSpeech
in #Universities is under threat.

It's smoke & mirrors, a parlour trick to distract from real issues like the #CostOfLivingCrisis /1

theguardian.com/education/2022…
In 2018, an inquiry into freedom of speech in unis was called by @HouseofCommons & @UKHouseofLords for the @HumanRightsCtte @UKParliament Evidence was submitted, hearings were held, & a 71-page report was published publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201719/jt…

/6
“The press accounts of widespread suppression of free speech are clearly out of kilter with reality. ... A large amount of evidence suggests that the narrative that ‘censorious students’ have created a ‘free speech crisis’ in universities has been exaggerated” (2018, p. 19)

/7
"While the Government has been concerned about the perceived decline of freedom of speech in universities, the introduction of the Prevent duty in higher education settings has made exercising freedom of speech rights more problematic" (2018, p. 29) #StudentsNotSuspects

/8
In 2018, after the publication of the report, the then universities minister continued to insist that "the threat to freedom of speech in universities was not 'some right-wing conspiracy theory that had been made up'" researchresearch.com/news/article/?…

/9
That same minister then fabricated a story about free speech under threat. "The rapid rebuttal from the university leaves few documented cases of censorship to justify the concern expressed about the issue by some politicians."

/10

researchresearch.com/news/article/?…

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More from @Jess_Gagnon

Feb 21, 2022
🪧 #UCUstrike Thread 🪧

Wondering why staff across 68 universities are on strike?

@ucu #OneOfUsAllOfUs #FourFights #DigitalPicketLine #DigitalPicket

/1 Flyer describing the UCU (University and College Union) FourFlyer describing the UCU (University and College Union) Four
Read @ucu's Four Fights FAQ

ucu.org.uk/article/11818/…

/2
1. Fair Pay (including fair pensions):

Staff pay has dropped by over 17% in real-terms since 2009

ucu.org.uk/article/10342/…

/3
Read 24 tweets
Apr 13, 2020
Please RT: Professor Penny Jane Burke, Director of @UON_CEEHE "As a survivor of domestic violence, I felt compelled to join many other voices to help bring attention to the terrifying implications of #COVID19 for so many women & children" #endVAW #VAW /1
Briefing from UK's End Violence Against Women: #COVID19: New EVAW Briefing urges Government to act now to prevent 'secondary' abuse disaster @EVAWuk endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/covid-19-new-e… #endVAW #VAW #domesticviolence /3
Read 9 tweets
Mar 11, 2020
The Prevent duty (UK) & the Professor Watchlist (US) & Education Watch (UK) have legitimated surveillance strategies intended to promote an “Us versus Them” divide between staff & students #StudentsNotSuspects #EducatorsNotInformants #TrollProfWatchlist #TrollEducationWatch /2
Prevent (UK), Professor Watchlist (US), & Education Watch (UK) target specific groups for surveillance under the banner of identifying those who are supposedly a threat to the nation. #StudentsNotSuspects #EducatorsNotInformants #TrollProfWatchlist #TrollEducationWatch /3
Read 28 tweets
Mar 9, 2020
#UCUstrikesBack Since today's @StrathclydeUCU strikers are participating in today's #FeministPicket I want to add a thread about the motherhood penalty and the fatherhood bonus that I mentioned at the teach in last week #IWD2020 #IWD #IWD20 /1
The motherhood penalty impacts all women - regardless of whether a woman can have or wants to have children - 40% of managers admit to discriminating against women of childbearing age #UCUstrikesBack #FeministPicket #IWD2020 #IWD #IWD20 /2 theguardian.com/money/2014/aug…
"Many mothers also face discrimination from employers. ... This discrimination extends to women without children too, with some employers regarding all women of childbearing age as potential liabilities" (Woodroffe, 2009:3) #UCUstrikesBack /3 bl.uk/collection-ite…
Read 13 tweets
Nov 27, 2019
#UCUstrike After crossing the picket line, a senior academic emailed our branch office to complain that the union picketers were too noisy. I think it's time to devote a thread to say #ThanksToUnions for making lots of noise. epi.org/publication/br… #UCUfightsBack /1
#UCUstrike #ThanksToUnions for the 8 hour day and the five day work week #UCUfightsBack /2
#UCUstrike #ThanksToUnions for parental leave, though that varies wildly by country bbc.com/worklife/artic… #UCUfightsBack /3
Read 8 tweets

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