ABSTRACT
The current state of academic freedom in Poland is shaped by the domination of public higher education fully reliant on state funding, and an increasing claim by state powers on universities as the rightful domain of the state. Following the standardized research guidelines for case studies on academic freedom, this chapter details the characteristics of the Polish higher education system and examines the current state of academic freedom across areas ranging from legal and institutional protection to the freedom to research and campus security. It finds that since 2009, Polish higher education has been in a constant state of reform, marked by a persistent neoliberal turn. Changes in its regulatory environment proposed in 2021 present an unprecedented framing of academic freedom in terms of identity politics that aim to establish a hegemony of national-conservative and Catholic values. At the same time, Polish universities participate in the European frameworks of academic cooperation, resulting in an emulation of debates on equality, non-discrimination, and diversity-friendly campus culture. An entirely new challenge to already strained institutions is being posed by the large-scale intake of refugee students at Polish universities as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
