Free speech on college campuses: A bottom-up approach is best | Emily Chamlee-Wright | Big Think

TL;DR

Allowing individual faculty to curate campus discourse fosters free speech and prevents ideological corruption.

Transcript

What should governance of campus speech look like? One is a morality and order paradigm, which is to say, let's make sure that any campus speech that we do have is the kind of speech that we would really want our students to hear, and let's make sure that we have policies and practices in place that ensure that everything they hear is appropriate. ... Read More

Key Insights

• 😯 Campus speech governance should prioritize a bottom-up approach to prevent centralized power and ideological corruption.
• 😯 Faculty members acting as curators of speech promote diverse viewpoints and discourse on campus.
• 👻 Controllable decentralized governance allows for error correction and protects against corruption in a shared governance model.
• 👾 A contestable discursive space fosters academic freedom and prevents power concentration and ideological factionalism.
• 😯 The bottom-up governance model ensures that no single entity has the authority to dictate what speech is permissible.
• 😯 Diversity of perspectives and robust discourse are maintained through a decentralized approach to campus speech governance.
• 😯 Centralized speech governance poses risks of power concentration and ideological corruption, potentially limiting academic freedom.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the morality and order paradigm of campus speech governance?

The morality and order paradigm focuses on dictating what speech should be allowed on campus, aiming to ensure appropriateness and adherence to certain standards.

Q: Why is a bottom-up approach preferred for campus speech governance?

A bottom-up approach entrusts faculty with the responsibility to curate speech, allowing for diverse perspectives and preventing centralized power that could lead to ideological corruption.

Q: How does a decentralized governance of campus speech benefit the discourse?

Decentralized governance promotes a contestable discursive space, enabling error correction, preventing corruption, and ensuring a diverse range of voices are heard on campus.

Q: What are the risks associated with centralized governance of campus speech?

Centralized governance can concentrate power, leading to ideological factionalism and corruption, regardless of the ideological direction, posing a threat to free speech and academic freedom.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Governance of campus speech should be based on a bottom-up approach, allowing faculty to act as curators.

• Campus speech governance should avoid centralizing power to prevent ideological corruption.

• A discursive environment that accommodates multiple perspectives fosters error correction and prevents corruption.