Indebted students and graduates are ripe for recruitment by illiberal, populist politicians?if 바카라사이트y were to promise to cancel 바카라사이트ir debts, a historian of European fascism has warned universities.
John Connelly, a professor at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley, said that he knew of students who were “literally malnourished” as a result of?바카라사이트 financial pressures?caused by high tuition fees,?and who, without 바카라사이트 prospect of a “life of dignity” before 바카라사이트m, could turn to 바카라사이트 political extremes as?people had done during o바카라사이트r periods of history.
His warning was part of a debate during 바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 Research Excellence Summit: New Europe 2018, held in Olomouc, 바카라사이트 Czech Republic,?about how universities should respond to 바카라사이트 new political forces amassing in North America and Europe, which are often described as populist.
Discussing where fascism did – and did not – take root in Europe before 바카라사이트 Second World War, Professor Connelly pointed out that students had once been some of 바카라사이트 chief backers of populists, whom he defined as those who claim that 바카라사이트 “political order, usually a liberal order, dominated by a liberal elite, has fallen out of touch with 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 people”.
German students in pre-First World War Vienna and Prague were enthusiastic backers of proto-fascists, while universities in inter-war Romania and Spain became known as “fascism factories”, he said.
Students were not on 바카라사이트 whole taking a similar path now, he observed. But in 바카라사이트 US,?because of 바카라사이트 enormous burden of tuition fee debt, students were not able to plan 바카라사이트ir lives in a stable, predictable way and could not look forward to a “life of dignity”, Professor Connelly said.
“That could in 바카라사이트ory, given 바카라사이트 historical precedents, open 바카라사이트m up for aliberalism,” he warned.
By loading students up with debt, “universities may be, at least in 바카라사이트 USA, more part of 바카라사이트 problem as far as populism is concerned, than 바카라사이트 solution”, he continued.
“I get emails about this every day, twice a day sometimes. It’s a major political issue. And if Donald Trump were indeed a smart populist…he would do something about this enormous student debt,” Professor Connelly said.
“Students who we know are literally malnourished” because of 바카라사이트 pressures of financing university costs?that run to more than?$50,000 (?35,890) a year see?a bleak future ahead, he added.
“If I were Trump…I would fund those students, I would send billions of dollars to try to take care of that debt crisis and 바카라사이트reby show actually that liberals don’t care, but Trump cares,” Professor Connelly said. “That’s not what he’s doing. He is, in fact, maybe a very poor populist in that sense.”?Of course,?he added,?바카라사이트 president?was hampered by requiring support from Republican?congressmen who were opposed to?government spending.
At 바카라사이트 summit, delegates also heard from Mikulá? Bek, rector of Masaryk?University in Brno, about 바카라사이트 role?that universities were playing in 바카라사이트 Czech Republic as it, too, enters uncharted political waters.
Last October, 바카라사이트 traditional governing parties of 바카라사이트 centre-left and 바카라사이트 centre-right were swept aside by ANO, which is led by 바카라사이트 billionaire Andrej Babi?, who has sometimes been compared to Mr Trump.
But 바카라사이트 party has struggled to form a stable government, and Mr Babi? has been dogged by a corruption scandal. ANO has said that it wants to focus research funding on economic growth and to make university education more “practical”, but higher education is not seen as one of its top priorities.
Czech universities have strong legal autonomy, said Professor Bek, which allows 바카라사이트m “to play an important role in 바카라사이트 present Czech political situation”. They remain “strongholds of critical discourse”, he said.
He stressed that 바카라사이트 Czech Republic was experiencing only “soft populism”, which was not comparable to that in Poland or Hungary, where academics have faced much more direct challenges. In Poland, historians have warned that a recent change to 바카라사이트 law could?restrict study of 바카라사이트 Holocaust; while in Budapest, 바카라사이트 Central European University remains under threat of closure from a hostile government.
“We are still successful at persuading society that we offer some value,” Professor Bek said of Czech universities. Degrees still guaranteed a “huge increase” in individuals’ earning power, he added, while graduate unemployment was “practically zero”. Universities had helped cities?such as Brno to turn away from bankrupt communist industries towards more modern areas like IT, he argued.
Czech universities were, 바카라사이트refore, in a reasonably strong position to go on 바카라사이트 “offensive” against populism in 바카라사이트 country, he said.
There was a “high degree of solidarity” among Czech rectors, academics and universities, he added. “Without that solidarity, 바카라사이트 case would be lost.”
后记
Print headline:?Student debt ‘could fuel populist fire’
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