Science Under Pressure – Human Cognitive Abilities as a Democratic Resource

The far right has identified science as a target and is wielding the call for neutrality as a weapon. It strategically challenges disciplinary legitimacy, institutional autonomy, and the relevance of the rigorous production of facts. Scientific research is not refuted on its merits; instead, researchers are discredited as activists.  

These assaults are targeting a system that is vulnerable on many counts: precarious working conditions, financial dependencies, and the need to economize leave it open to attack. At the same time, science is theoretically able to draw on enormous resources, networks, and institutions to defy and challenge the rising authoritarianism, to safeguard critical research, and to strengthen trust in scientific complexity. 

Today, more than ever, it takes critical, independent, and engaged voices. At a time when facts are disputed, history is falsified, and social legislation is undermined, science is not just a source of knowledge – it is also a democratic resource. Protecting science is, therefore, not an academic question; it affects us all.