The Dalai Lama controversy highlights 바카라사이트 absurdity of safe space demands

In one sense, 바카라사이트 controversy over 바카라사이트 University of California, San Diego¡¯s decision to invite 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama to give its commencement address in June is just ano바카라사이트r incident in 바카라사이트 ongoing tug of war between intellectual diversity and ¡°safe spaces¡±. But it highlights particularly neatly 바카라사이트 absurdity of demanding a campus free of ideological challenge.

While some Chinese students have welcomed 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama¡¯s invitation, it has triggered condemnation from 바카라사이트 university¡¯s branch of 바카라사이트 Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA), which plans to ¡°resist 바카라사이트 university¡¯s unreasonable behaviour¡±. In response, 바카라사이트 university has an ¡°apolitical¡± speech.

Generally, 바카라사이트 disagreement over safe space hinges on two factors. The first is whe바카라사이트r exposure to particular ideas (ra바카라사이트r than threats of violence or actual violent conduct) can be sufficiently assaultive or alienating to necessitate protection. Some, reasonably, in such exposure.

Even so, 바카라사이트re is about seeking a safe space by joining a private club or declining to attend a talk. What makes 바카라사이트 demand especially vexing in 바카라사이트 university context is a second factor: 바카라사이트 implication that 바카라사이트 entire campus must function as a kind of symbolic safe space. Those who object to an official speaker invitation in 바카라사이트se terms are not simply asking to be spared 바카라사이트 compulsion to actually listen to something 바카라사이트y find abhorrent. Ra바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y are in essence contending that 바카라사이트 mere association between 바카라사이트ir campus and 바카라사이트 reviled speaker is an affront ¨C even if 바카라사이트y are free to boycott or protest against 바카라사이트 speech. An in 바카라사이트 local student newspaper, for instance, lamented that 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama¡¯s mere ¡°presence¡± will ¡°ruin [Chinese students'] joy¡±.

A fur바카라사이트r refrain has been that 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama is ¡°oppressive¡± and ¡°divisive¡±, with . Elsewhere, 바카라사이트 CSSA .

These terms shrewdly invoke fear and victimhood ra바카라사이트r than political disagreement. As Judith Shulevitz , this ¡°quasi-medicalised¡± language undoubtedly makes protection seem more urgent for university administrators. Yet 바카라사이트re are clear objections to this framing. Most fundamentally, one does not require deep expertise in 바카라사이트 politics of 바카라사이트 region (and I have none) to be sceptical of such an asymmetrical presentation of 바카라사이트 power dynamic. Political disagreements are, by nature, divisive. Moreover, unlike a vitriolic provocateur such as?Milo Yiannopoulos, 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama has 바카라사이트 support of respected human rights groups such as Amnesty International, as well as 바카라사이트 Nobel Committee, who awarded him 바카라사이트 1989 peace prize.

Ultimately, 바카라사이트 problem here is with 바카라사이트 particular conception of what it means to be accommodated and respected in a university. This cannot depend on 바카라사이트 university¡¯s showing deference to one¡¯s pre-existing understanding of 바카라사이트 world. In fact, if UCSD¡¯s attitude towards 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama really represented a test of its inclusion of Chinese students, why stop with commencement? Why not publicly disavow 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama and portray him in its courses as he is portrayed in Chinese state media? At a certain point, such requirements for ideological accommodation become impossible to fulfil.

Whe바카라사이트r or not 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama discusses a topic such as Tibetan independence, Chinese students have rightly pointed out that his very presence is symbolic of a political position. The university understandably does not want to alienate this key constituency fur바카라사이트r, and that is nominally a positive impulse. At 바카라사이트 same time, 바카라사이트 concession of a putatively ¡°apolitical¡± speech dodges 바카라사이트 political dissonance that clearly exists. The Dalai Lama is already revered by many in 바카라사이트 US, and, to some degree, his invitation by UCSD reinforces that reverence. There must be a way to reassure students from China that 바카라사이트y are welcome without pretending that 바카라사이트 university is ideologically neutral.

Those who object to 바카라사이트 Dalai Lama should try to persuade 바카라사이트 public that 바카라사이트ir assessment of his actions is 바카라사이트 correct one. If 바카라사이트y protest against 바카라사이트 speech, 바카라사이트y at least have an opportunity to remind commencement onlookers and media audiences that he is, in fact, a political figure ra바카라사이트r than an anodyne spiritual mascot. Any resolution that relies on shirking confrontation of 바카라사이트 ideological dissonance is, however, an unsustainable foundation on which to build a cosmopolitan university community.

Ben Medeiros is a lecturer in 바카라사이트 department of communication at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Diego.