How to deal with democracy

“ uman rights are like the sea; when the water recedes in one place, it recedes everywhere. This is why the fight for human rights in Ukraine is part of the fight for human rights everywhere.” This was the argument made by Oleksandra Romantsova, representative for the Center for Civil Liberties, in a Nobel Laureate Lecture for students and employees at the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers. According to a report from V-Dem, only 13 percent of the world’s population currently live in a democratic state governed by the rule of law. The level of democracy has fallen to the level that prevailed in 1989, with only 34 liberal democracies. That can be compared to 2012 when there were 42 democracies in the world.

What does this mean for the University of Gothenburg? One thing is that many of the countries with which we collaborate are quite different to us. In this issue, sinologist Fredrik Fällman highlights the importance of international partnerships, while at the same time we must not be too naive, such as when collaborating with China.

One of the most fundamental democratic rights is freedom of expression. “Cancel culture” is a new word that has begun to be used to describe the act of preventing people from expressing themselves. At the same time, there is value in polite conversation, not least in order to ensure that everyone has the courage to take part.

The global trend, however, seems to be heading in the wrong direction. But there is a glimmer of hope. A research team at the university is in the process of helping Wikipedia translate all its content to a large number of languages, which is truly about promoting.

At the end of January, Jonsered Manor hosted a seminar on journalism within public sector administration. The seminar was a birthday present for the GU Journal and included a well-needed in-depth discussion about what we do, which perhaps most of us need in order to be inspired to continue our efforts.