What protects academic speech? Between academic freedom and freedom of speech in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7213/rev.dir.econ.soc.v16i2.32353Keywords:
academic freedom; freedom of speech; academic discourse; intramural speech; extramural speech.Abstract
The 1988 Brazilian Constitution protects both academic freedom and freedom of speech, but some concrete situations involving the scope and limits of academic discourse make its protective field tenuous due to the juxtaposition of these two freedoms. Based on the diagnoses of theoretical and jurisprudential gaps in providing clear conceptualization and criteria for regulating academic discourse in Brazil, this article presents definitions of academic freedom, freedom of speech, and academic discourse in light of the Brazilian Constitution. It also explores the three main justification theories of freedom of speech to verify which conception is compatible with the Brazilian constitutional framework of academic freedom. Finally, it argues that at least three elements - location, content, and audience - should be considered in future investigations to explore possible criteria for the protection and regulation of academic discourse in Brazil.
Downloads
References
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS (AAUP). 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure. 1915, disponível em: https://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/A6520A9D-0A9A-47B3-B550-C006B5B224E7/0/1915Declaration.pdf
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS (AAUP). 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure. 1940, disponível em: https://www.aaup.org/report/1940-statement-principles-academic-freedom-and-tenure
BAKER, Edwin. Autonomy and Free Speech. Constitutional Commentary, v.27, n.2, 2010, p. 251-282.
BERNASCONI, Andres. University autonomy and academic freedom: Contrasting Latin American and U.S. perspectives. Higher Education Governance & Policy, vol. 2, n. 1, p. 56-67, jun. 2021.
BRASIL. Constituição de 1988. Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil. Brasília, DF: Câmara dos Deputados, disponível em: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/constituicao/constituicaocompilado.htm
BRASIL. Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação. 1996, disponível em: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l9394.htm
BRISON, Susan J.. The autonomy defense of free speech. Ethics: The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, v. 108, n. 2, p.312-339, jan. 1998.
BRITO, Adriane S. de; MENDES, Conrado H.; SALES, Fernando R.; AMARAL, Mariana C. S.; BARRETO, Marina S. O caminho da autocracia: estratégias atuais de erosão democrática. 1ª ed., São Paulo: Tinta da China Brasil, 2023.
BUTLER, Judith. Academic Freedom and the Critical Task of the University. Globalizations, v. 14, n. 6, p. 857–861, 2017.
CANOTILHO. J. J. Gomes. Direito Constitucional e Teoria da Constituição. 6. ed., Coimbra: Almedina, 2002.
COMISIÓN INTERAMERICANA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS. Principios Interamericanos sobre Libertad Académica y Autonomía Universitaria, 2021. Disponível em: https://www.oas.org/es/cidh/informes/pdfs/principios_libertad_academica.pdf
DWORKIN, Ronald. Freedom's Law: The moral reading of the American Constitution. 1ª ed., New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
DURHAM, Eunice Ribeiro. A autonomia universitária: o princípio constitucional e suas implicações. Núcleo de Pesquisas sobre Ensino Superior (NUPES), Universidade de São Paulo, Documento de Trabalho 9/89, 1989.
FINKIN, Matthew W. Intramural Speech, Academic Freedom, and the First Amendment. Texas Law Review, v. 66, n. 7, p. 1323–1350, 1988.
FINKIN, Matthew W.; POST, Robert C. For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom. 1ª ed., New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
LAURENTIIS, Lucas C.; THOMAZINI, Fernanda A. Liberdade de Expressão: Teorias, Fundamentos e Análise de Casos. Revista Direito e Práxis, Rio de Janeiro, v. 11, n. 4, p. 2260-2301, 2020.
LEHER, Roberto. Autonomia universitária e liberdade acadêmica. Revista Contemporânea de Educação, Rio de Janeiro, v. 14, n. 29, p. 208-226, 2009.
LEVIN, Abigail. Pornography, Hate Speech and their challenge to Dworkin. Public Affairs Quarterly, vol. 23, n. 4, p. 357-373, 2009.
MACEDO JUNIOR, Ronaldo P. Freedom of Expression: what lessons should we learn from the US experience? Revista Direito GV, São Paulo, v. 13, n. 1, p. 274-302, 2017.
MARSHALL, William P. The Truth Justification for Freedom of Speech. In: STONE, A; SCHAUER, F. The Oxford Handbook of Freedom of Speech, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, pp.44-60.
MEIKLEJOHN, Alexander. Free Speech And Its Relation to Self-Government. 1ª ed., New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948.
MILL, John Stuart. On Liberty. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
MILTON, John. Areopagitica. [s.l.]: Independently Published, 2019.
POST, Robert. Academic Freedom and the Constitution. In: AKEEL BILGRAMI, Akeel; COLE, Jonathan. Who’s afraid of Academic Freedom? New York: Columbia University Press, 2015, p.123-152.
POST, Robert. Debating Disciplinarity. Critical Inquiry, Chicago, vol. 35, n. 4, p. 749-770, 2009.
POST, Robert. Democracy, Expertise and Academic Freedom: A First Amendment Jurisprudence for the Modern State. 1ª ed., New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012(a).
POST, Robert. Discipline and Freedom in the Academy. Arkansas Law Review, v.65, n.203, p. 203-216, 2012(b).
POST, Robert. Reconciling Theory and doctrine in First Amendment jurisprudence. California Law Review, Berkeley, vol. 88, n. 6, p. 2353-2374, 2000.
RABBAN, David. A functional analysis of “individual” and “institutional” academic freedom under the First Amendment. Law and Contemporary Problems, Durham, vol. 53, n. 3, p. 227-301, 1990.
RANIERI, Nina B. Stocco. Autonomia universitária: as universidades públicas e a Constituição Federal de 1988. 2ª ed., São Paulo: Imprensa Oficial do Estado de São Paulo, 2013.
RIBEIRO, Darcy. A universidade necessária. 1ª ed., Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1969.
SALES, Fernando Romani. Nomeações de reitores em universidades federais e autonomia universitária. Nexo Políticas Públicas, mar. 2021, disponível em: https://pp.nexojornal.com.br/linha-do-tempo/2021/03/09/nomeacoes-de-reitores-em-universidades-federais-e-autonomia-universitaria
SARLET, Ingo W.; TRAVINCAS, Amanda C. Thomé. O direito fundamental à liberdade acadêmica – notas em torno de seu âmbito de proteção a ação e a elocução extramuros. Espaço Jurídico Journal of Law, v. 17, n. 2, p. 529-546, ago. 2016.
SCHAUER, Frederick. Free speech and the argument from democracy. Nomos, vol. 25, p. 241-256, 1983.
SHILS, Edward. Do we still need academic freedom? Minerva, v. 32, n. 1, p. 79–98, 1994.
SILVA, Virgílio Afonso da. O proporcional e o razoável. Revista dos Tribunais, São Paulo, vol. 798, p. 23-50, 2002.
SIMPSON, Robert Mark. The Relation between Academic Freedom and Free Speech. Ethics, Chicago, vol. 130, n. 3, p. 287-319, 2020.
SULTANA, Farhana. The false equivalence of academic freedom and free speech: defending academic integrity in the age of white supremacy, colonial nostalgia, and anti-intellectualism. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, v. 17, n. 2, p. 228–257, 2018.
SUNSTEIN, Cass. Democracy and the problem of free speech. New York: The Free Press, 1993.
TEPKER, Harry F.; HARROZ JR., Joseph. On balancing scales, kaleidoscopes, and the blurred limits of academic freedom. Oklahoma Law Review, Oklahoma, vol. 50, n. 1, p. 1-43, 1997.
TRAVINCAS, Amanda Costa T. A tutela jurídica da liberdade acadêmica no Brasil: a liberdade de ensinar e seus limites. 1ª ed., Porto Alegre: Editora Livraria do Advogado, 2018.
UITZ, Renata. Academic freedom as a human right? Facing up to the illiberal challenge. [s.n.], 2021.
WHITTINGTON, Keith. Academic Freedom and the Scope of Protections for Extramural Speech. Academe, v. 105, n. 1, 2019. Disponível em: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3294421
WHITTINGTON, Keith. What can professors say on campus? Intramural speech and the First Amendment. [s.n.], 2023(a), disponível em: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4551168
WHITTINGTON, Keith. What can professors say in public? Extramural Speech and the First Amendment. Case Western Reserve Law Review, v. 73, n. 4, p. 1121, 2023(b).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Fernando Romani Sales, Conrado Hubner Mendes
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this Journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal of Economic and Socio-Environmental Law the right of first publication with the article simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International which allows sharing the work with recognition of the authors and its initial publication in this Journal.
- Authors are able to take on additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the paper published in this Journal (eg.: publishing in institutional repository or as a book), with a recognition of its initial publication in this Journal.
- Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish their work online (eg.: in institutional repositories or on their personal website) at any point before or during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as increase the impact and the citation of the published work (see the Effect of Open Access).
