A university tragedy in the land of freedoms

While Israel's inhumane oppression of Palestine is met with hatred across the world, it naturally creates outrage and leads to protests in universities, which can be seen as the highest-level organs of the thought system. The fact that this uprising is not widely seen in all countries of the world, especially in Arab and Islamic countries, and that US universities are leading the way on this issue is a subject that both sociologists and those working on education policy should dwell upon.

Columbia University, which once stood by Edward Said as he threw stones at Israeli tanks, is suspending the activities of pro-Palestinian student clubs 23 years after that event. According to the latest news, it is also sending warning letters to the world-renowned Harvard University, and likely to many other universities, on this matter. Are these universities restricting their autonomy and curbing the freedoms of academics and students because they are private universities funded by billions of dollars, or is the state defending the freedom rights of these fund owners? The answer to this question is a big "yes." In other words, it reveals who actually owns the government, which is thought to be the interpreter of the voice of public conscience, and how the political apparatus can turn against all people and nations to turn a blind eye to certain injustices as a state apparatus. This point reveals to us the true face of capitalist states and the government structures under that state umbrella.

In connection with this situation, we see how universities are shaped and positioned as a superstructure. Yes, universities are superstructures. The infrastructure that forms this superstructure is capital. Whether they are private universities established and run with private funds, or state universities established and operated with public funds, not much changes in terms of their autonomy and/or their dependence on a focus. Because in both cases, capital, that is, economic power, is successful in constructing these institutions, which are extremely influential on the system and society, in its own direction, and it is also extremely skillful in bringing universities that resist this into line.

French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, who has conducted important studies on the academy, likens universities to a dervish lodge or a cult nest, explaining that in the recruitment of staff, promotions, and the general application of the examination system for student admissions, the system tries to identify those who will enter the system in terms of their suitability, and to keep those who are not suitable out of the system through a mechanism he describes as "symbolic violence." So, who determines the duties specific to these institutions, which are called universities or academies and are ostensibly supposed to be engaged in high-level scientific work, and according to which rules? When we look at the laws and regulations regarding these institutions, we come across extremely polite and objective expressions. However, the truth is not so; capital intervenes in almost all the activities of these institutions, either covertly or openly, and as clearly seen in the latest examples, it intervenes in almost every field, either openly or covertly. And all these oppressive and obstructive activities are fed to the large segment of society as being for the public good, public interest, and the maintenance of social peace and tranquility.

If anyone buys it!