The latest issue of PARISS starts with an interview with David Swartz whose book on academic Trumpism has been published recently. In the book Swartz uses the metaphor of the wrecking ball, capturing the mood of tearing down the system, letting things collapse even if what comes afterwards remains unclear. A craving for power and revolt against existing structures are surely there, but there is hardly any vision of order. Academic supporters of Trump do not come through as an ideologically coherent groups except for this sentiment of resentment, which is one of the main driving forces of events these days. The following piece of this issue links to our earlier themes on academic freedom, with a contribution from Brazil, finally opening our discussion towards the way in which academic freedom is being reconfigured in a global south context. Victor Coutinho Lage invokes the highly illuminating concept of “scholasticide” and raises questions on how to cultivate academic freedom, emphasizing that freedom is hardly trivial. Freedom is situational and it is embedded in institutions. In academic freedom – as the author emphasizes – critique and complicity are holding hands. A far cry from the academic Trumpists’ vision of freedom as a wrecking ball, Coutinho Lage’s intervention is a perfect addition to the array of heterogenous stories and biographical reflections on academic freedom. This is a theme which we are certain to continue in the coming issues, and we invite contributions, long or short, on our colleagues’ experiences of these shifting sands.
