The Right to Learn: Resisting the Right-Wing Attack on Academic Freedom

For this enlightening essay collection, political scientist Johnson (Black Power in the Suburbs), film studies scholar Ruth (It’s Not Free Speech), and historian Schrecker (The Lost Promise) bring together educators and activists to respond to recent right-wing attempts to ban teaching material pertaining to race, gender identity, and sexuality. According to the editors, these bans constitute a serious attack on the liberal principle of unfettered inquiry and, consequently, on democracy itself. The basic facts justify the contributors’ sense of urgency; in 2022 alone, 48 state legislatures considered proposals for “anti-LGBTQ schooling or curriculum restrictions,” and, by the end of the year, 15 states had passed 19 of those bills. Many of the chapters have a journalistic bent, documenting contributors’ personal experiences of their institutions being targeted by conservative donors and activists trying to get education bans enacted—among them Charles Koch and Christopher Rufo—as well as the educators’ attempts to fight back through teachers unions and faculty senates. Primarily intended to be read by educators “as a source of information and perhaps inspiration,” the anthology, despite the occasional jargon-filled passage, paints a kaleidoscopic picture of a nationwide struggle playing out between powerful institutions—right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation squaring off against the ACLU and PEN America. It’s a detailed dissection of an urgent political issue. (Apr.)