Founding Declaration

Özgür Üniversite is a volunteer space of academic resistance, founded against the commodification of science and art and the marketization of the academy. The following principles are the basis of our founding.

Independence

We are independent of state and capital. No commercial or institutional interest may dictate the content of the education and publishing we carry out.

Against commodification

Science and art are not commodities to be bought and sold. We oppose the subordination of knowledge and aesthetic experience to the market, and the transformation of the university into a company.

Volunteering and solidarity

Instructors work voluntarily. The symbolic contribution from students is used only for basic costs such as rent, heating and communication; no one profits from this space.

Openness

Membership and participation are open to all. Our lectures, seminars, research and publishing aim to include everyone who wishes to learn and to debate.

Method

We run lectures, seminars, conferences and publishing in critical theory, Marxist and ecological thought, the politics of Turkey and the Middle East, philosophy and art criticism.

Science and art cannot be bought with money.

This text is a summary of our founding principles; the full official declaration will be approved by the foundation and published before launch.