Academic MASS

The Emperor's New Suit: The Dishonest Plagiarism of Sinisha the Small

The expert commission formed by the Teaching and Scientific Council of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences remained deaf to the remarks sent to them by the professors of Belgrade University through the Committee for Professional Ethics and blind to the obvious - that the doctorate of candidate Sinisa Mali is plagiarized. In a short, biased and imprecisely composed answer signed by three of the four members of the expert committee, which informally reached the public, it is stated that, when "weighing the number and importance of the virtues and flaws of the doctorate, the Committee firmly stands on the point of view that there are not enough reason to deprive the candidate of the acquired title of Doctor of Science".

The approach of the deadline for the statement of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences on the opinion of the expert committee (October 26, 2019) and the deadline for the statement of the Committee for Professional Ethics of the University of Belgrade (November 4, 2019) inevitably raises two important questions. Who will defend the honor and reputation of the University of Belgrade and who will bear the responsibility for the consequences of a possible wrong decision?

We see from the media that the price for defending the dignity of the profession is paid by colleagues who did not want to close their eyes to the obvious or to hide behind procedures and suitable "expert" opinions. MASA calls on the academic community to demonstrate in this case as well that it can shoulder the burden of making an honorable decision in solidarity. We appeal to the management and teachers of the Faculty of Organizational Sciences to be guided by the common need to collectively protect the honor and reputation of the University of Belgrade and to reject the decision of the expert committee accordingly. We believe that the blanket rejection of objections in order to wash away the dishonesty of the minister will not have consequences for the signatories of the expert commission's response or their universities, but will have long-term negative consequences precisely for the University of Belgrade.

The history of Sinisa Malo's doctorate is irresistibly reminiscent of the story of the emperor's new suit, no one wants to be the one to announce that the emperor is naked. We believe that colleagues from the Faculty of Organizational Sciences will reject the description of the emperor's suit given in the opinion of the expert committee and say what everyone has seen for a long time: this doctorate is PLAGIARISM.

Academic MASS

Narrowing the space for critical thinking and action - conversations with Judith Butler

The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement in cooperation with the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory organizes a panel discussion whose goal is to open the issues of autonomy and freedom of thought, with a focus on the university, which should be the cradle of social criticism.

We are witnessing that demands for freedom of expression, more democracy and more justice are increasingly being censored and interpreted as calls for rebellion. Support for change is interpreted as the voice of a notorious elite that does not understand or undermines the aspirations of the "ordinary" man. This kind of censorship is not only a specialty of our societies. Trump even openly calls professional media where supporters of critical thinking are enemies of the people.

When the state does not protect either autonomy or freedom of thought, when unconditional obedience becomes a principle of state organization, then the university must become that place, a beacon and a fortress within the state itself that protects both freedom of thought and the right to criticize. Otherwise, thinking becomes dangerous. Censorship is essentially violent, because the consequences of censorship - as shown by numerous cases from different parts of the world - can be threats of violence or actual violence, surveillance, censorship of publications, mock trials, defamation, expulsion from the workplace, expulsion from the country and finally, even death.

How can we explain the fact that the space for public speaking is expanding, because there are more and more platforms and opportunities for communication, while at the same time the space for critical thinking is narrowing? Is the cacophony actually suffocating him? Does the growing populism that recognizes in criticism a "rotten elitism" that is essentially always hostile to "the people" contribute to the stifling of critical thinking? What are the spaces for critical engagement in the West that dissolve right-wing populism? How to identify those areas in Eastern Europe where authoritarian right-wing populists managed to collapse institutions and narrow the space for action in already weak societies? Has the deliberative collapse of the authority of knowledge irreversibly opened the door to the decline of the university as an institution that produces critical thinking? How do universities resist censorship and what to do when the pressure becomes unbearable?

The event was supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Belgrade and Dom omladine Belgrade.

Participants:

Judith Butler, University of Berkeley, California
Ivan Vejvoda, Institute for Humanistic Studies, Vienna
Athena Athanasiou, Pantheon University, Athens
Sanja Bojanić, Center for Advanced Judges of Southeast Europe, University of Rijeka
Elena Tzelepis, Center for Advanced Studies, Sofia
Adriana Zaharijević, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade

Academic MASS

Appeal of the Masses to the academic community - ranking for the defense of the University

The initiative board of the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) supports the Rector of the University of Belgrade Ivanka Popović and the protesting students to find a solution that is in the interest of the entire academic community.

The autonomy of the University was once again called into question by the statements of the President of Serbia, the Prime Minister of Serbia and the highest officials of the ruling party. We invite University authorities, colleagues who support our initiative and everyone who cares about defending the value of academic work and freedom of thought to publicly express solidarity with the Rector and students.

The Prime Minister's statements that the Rector "aligned herself on one political side", as well as the unequivocal rejection of the finance minister's plagiarism by the highest representatives of the government, mean the autonomy of the university and the freedom to independently decide on issues that fall under the exclusive competence of the university. The prime minister has labeled the rector and the students as political opponents, thus publicly choosing to be the prime minister of only part of the citizens who are of her political like-mindedness. Once again, we draw attention to the fact that such actions indicate a deep misunderstanding of the essence of university autonomy and scientific research work. The University of Belgrade is neither a government agency nor a political party, and it is unacceptable for any government to use power and abuse institutions to put pressure on the University and its leadership. Therefore, we strongly condemn the attacks on the rector in the pro-regime media.

We must show that the academic community is not ready to silently observe the endangerment, belittling, blackmailing, intimidation of its representatives and students and the meaningless of scientific work. Freedom of scientific work and guaranteed autonomy in the organization of work and decision-making have been essential values of university activity since the 12th century. Therefore, we consider supporting the Rector and students as an act of defending the university's autonomy and freedom of academic activity, as one of the basic elements of a free and democratic society.

In Belgrade, September 24, 2019.

Initiative Board of the Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement

Dalibor Petrović

Đorđe Pavićević

Galjina Ognjanov

Gazelle Pudar Drasko

Nenad Makuljević

Academic MASS

Going public

The network of academic solidarity and engagement, the symbolic acronym MASA, was formed with the aim of strengthening the independence and critical potential of the academic community. This open network will gather all members of the academic community who are ready to engage in strengthening the voice of the profession and science by defending and consistently representing the basic principles and ethical standards of academic work. 

MASA will provide support to members of the academic community who are threatened because of their scientific and artistic work, i.e. public engagement. In addition, MASA will try to further motivate the academic community to independently deal with its own problems and environmental challenges. An important part of the engagement will be directed towards external actors, primarily towards the Government and competent institutions; MASA will point out negative social phenomena and processes and advocate strong participation of the academic community in the formulation of public policies.

The initiative to form the Network was based on the assessment that the academic community, faced with the general collapse of institutions in Serbia, has not yet reacted in the right way, in solidarity and with a strong voice. The absence of a timely and adequate reaction by the University authorities in cases of plagiarized doctorates, which have shaken society for years, is conspicuous. The recent repeated attack on prominent members of the academic community, which comes from the rostrum of the highest representative body - the Assembly of Serbia, and the absence of an appropriate reaction from the academic community, is a good example of how academic institutions are structurally threatened, and its representatives unprotected.

In such conditions, mutual connection and academic solidarity increase the capacity for joint action and participation in proactively solving broader social problems, for which the voice of members of the academic community is necessary and irreplaceable. Placing science and education on a sound and strong foundation is a necessary prerequisite for the successful development of the state and society, and for this joint action and nurturing the credibility of the academic community is necessary.

Almost all the key values of scientific and academic work are threatened. The responsibility for this lies mostly with the state, which fails to provide the prerequisites for dedicated and responsible work. At the same time, academic institutions are under increasing pressure from those who are supposed to guarantee and protect their autonomy. Attempts to influence the research and personnel policy of academic institutions most directly threaten their independence and, in the long term, collapse the scientific community as a whole. The Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory and the Institute of National Importance in Vinča are the latest examples of institutions where personnel solutions are imposed non-transparently and against the will of the majority.

In order to strengthen the academic community and encourage its members, MASA was formed, which symbolically, but also through concrete actions, wants to show that the academic community can and should work in the interest of the entire society.