Supporting academic freedom globally

In 2016, Concordia University anthropology professor Homa Hoodfar was arrested in Iran while conducting research on feminism and security matters. During her 112 days in prison, Hoodfar reflected on the state of academic freedom and the factors that continue to lead to the imprisonment and abuse of her colleagues globally.

In a speech she gave at the 2017 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, and later published by Policy Options, professor Hoodfar argued that academic freedom ought to be recognized as a transnational right by governments everywhere. Doing so would go a long way toward the protection of academics and their contribution to the common good. Professor Hoodfar stopped by our podcast to explain what this would entail.

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Homa Hoodfar

Homa Hoodfar is a professor emeritus of anthropology at Concordia University. Her primary research and expertise lies in legal and political anthropology. She examines the intersection of political economy; gender and citizenship rights; women’s formal and informal politics, gender and public sphere in Muslim contexts. Her publications include: Women’s Sport as Politics in Muslim Contexts WLUML (2015); Sexuality in Muslim Contexts: Restrictions and Resistance (edited with Anissa Hellie). London: Zed Books (2012); Electoral Politics: Making Quotas work for women London: WLUML (2011) (co-authored with Mona Tajali).