Free Speech and Koch Money

The demand for free speech on campus is a distraction, we need to follow the money

In recent years hundreds of high-profile free speech incidents have rocked US college campuses. Milo Yiannopoulos, Ben Shapiro, Ann Coulter and other right-wing speakers have faced considerable protest, with many being disinvited from speaking. These incidents are widely circulated as examples of the academys intolerance towards conservative views.But this response is not the spontaneous outrage of the liberal colleges. There is a darker element manufacturing the crisis, funded by political operatives, and designed to achieve specific political outcomes. If you follow the money, at the heart of the issue lies the infamous and ultra-libertarian Koch donor network.Grooming extremist celebrities, funding media platforms that promote these controversies, developing legal organisations to sue universities and corrupting legislators, the influence of the Koch network runs deep. We need to abandon the campus free speech narrative and instead follow the money if we ever want to root out this dangerous network from our universities.

Autorentext

Ralph Wilson is co-founder and research director of the Corporate Genome Project in Tallahassee, Florida. As former co-founder/research director of 'UnKoch My Campus', he helped develop a resistance movement against corporate donor influence on college campuses.

Isaac Kamola is Associate Professor of Political Science at Trinity College, Hartford, CT, and President of his college's chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). He has written on dark money in higher education in the Journal of Academic Freedom.

Klappentext

The demand for free speech on campus is a distraction, we need to follow the money

Zusammenfassung
The demand for free speech on campus is a distraction, we need to follow the money

Inhalt

Preface
Introduction: Overview of the Koch's Campus Free Speech Machine

1. The Donor Strategy
2. The Student Groups
3. The Provocateurs
4. The Media Amplifiers
5. The Lawyers
6. Changing the Laws
7. The Academics
8. The Free Speech International
   Conclusion: Refusing the Plutocratic Free Speech Narrative
   Appendix 1: Koch Network Payments to Organizations Mentioned in the Text
   Appendix 2: Resources for Activists
   Notes
   Index