Die ungarische Regierung plant, den Unterricht in Geschlechterforschung zu verbieten (Medien wie spiegel.de oder zeit.de berichteten). Während der “European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education”, die Ende August in Dublin stattfand, unterzeichneten viele Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer der Konferenz eine Petition gegen die Abschaffung des Studiengangs, darunter auch drei Kolleginnen des CEWS.
Weitere Informationen zur Petition finden Sie im Folgenden (auf Englisch):
Petition to Hungarian government from the participants of the 10th European GEHE conference in Dublin, August 20-22, 2018
The 10th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education gathered over 360 researchers, practitioners, administrators and policy makers, to Trinity College, Dublin, for three intensive days on 20-22 August, 2018. Gender studies as an important resource for society, and for gender equality and diversity work in higher education and other sectors of society was among key themes of the conference. During the conference, a petition to Hungarian government was created, protesting recent governmental measures threatening gender studies programmes in Hungarian universities. The petition was signed by a large number of participants, and it has now been delivered to the Hungarian government. Below you will find the text of the petition for your information. Similar petitions have been issued by several learned societies and disciplinary associations and other stakeholders from Europe and beyond.
Dublin, 22 August 2018
To: Hungarian Prime Minister, Mr. Viktor Orbán
Dear Prime Minister, Mr. Viktor Orbán,
we, the participants of the 10th European Conference on Gender Equality in Higher Education convened in Dublin, Ireland, representing academics, policy makers and practitioners from 34 countries from all continents, take note that a Hungarian government decree has been sent out ordering the termination of the teaching of Gender Studies, specifically cancelling two accredited, highly respected MA programs.
We write to protest this proposed decree of the Hungarian government and the attempt to legislate the curriculum of universities. This step is a violation of academic freedom which is the guarantee of the autonomy of higher education. By denying faculty and administrators academic freedom, the Hungarian government puts itself outside the community of democratic nations. We are concerned that this also sets a very dangerous precedent for state intervention in all other university courses.
Furthermore, it appears that the Hungarian government may understand Gender Studies narrowly and inaccurately, as a humanities discipline. We want to stress that Gender Studies is vital, empirically and theoretically, to social sciences broadly, business, management and organisation studies, technological sciences and innovation studies, medical sciences and natural sciences, and that Gender Studies expertise is necessary and in high demand in all branches of society, nationally and internationally.
We call upon the Minister of Education to refuse this amendment. We also call upon the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, to condemn this action as a violation of its principles. We call upon policy makers and academic institutions in our own countries to join our protest. We urge all concerned to rectify this anti-educational, anti-scientific, anti-democratic, and anti-equality move. We are also extremely concerned about further impacts including the loss to international collaboration with Hungary, and the loss of Hungarian scholarship from international and EU collaborative projects and communities of scholars and practitioners.
We sincerely trust the Hungarian government will reconsider and withdraw this decree to ensure that Hungarian universities continue to operate in line with the value of academic freedom, a cornerstone of democratic societies, and to teach the whole range of disciplines appropriate to a modern society.
Andere Organisationen und Einrichtungen haben sich ebenfalls gegen das Verbot ausgesprochen (z.B. Hungarian Network of University Teachers, Central European University oder ATGender).
Die Petition des Network of University Teachers können Sie hier unterschreiben: https://www.petitions24.com/statement_of_the_network_of_university_teachers_against_banning_the_gender_studies_program
Im Deutschlandfunk ist im Sendeformat „Campus & Karriere“ am 31. August ein Beitrag zur Abschaffung der Gender Studies in Ungarn mit einem Interview von Prof. Andrea Petö gesendet worden: "Ungarische Regierung will Gender Studies verbieten". Autorin ist Andrea Beer (05:30 min).
https://srv.deutschlandradio.de/themes/dradio/script/aod/index.html?audioMode=3&audioID=670835&state=
Anna Daniszewski and Orsolya Lehota:
Hungarian officials are out to get Gender Studies. That's our field and they're wrong
"The Hungarian government wants to terminate our academic field: Gender Studies degrees will no longer receive funding at state universities, and accreditation country-wide is on the line."
Anna Daniszewski, a paralegal at a New York law firm, and Orsolya Lehotai, a PhD student in Politics at The New School, received Master’s Degrees in Gender Studies from Central European University in 2017.
USA Today, Sep 19, 2018