A new academic exodus: Is America repeating Europe's 1930s error?

The parallels between geopolitics in the 1930s and now have been remarked upon by many commentators, including this columnist. Yet another parallel that is becoming apparent is tectonic upheavals across academia.

 

Turmoil in academia during the 1930s led to Europe ceding its primacy in scientific research to the US. Today, we see a mirror image of that situation. America is doing its best to surrender its position as the global epicentre of research. A massive opportunity exists here for other nations to significantly accelerate scientific programmes. Unfortunately, India is not well-placed to exploit this.

 

In the 1930s, Nazi racism led to a purge of Jewish academics. Einstein’s books were burnt in the streets, while madmen who followed Hitler wrote pamphlets extolling the virtues of “Aryan Science”. The cancer spread to Italy, where Mussolini had been in power for many years before Hitler rose. Italy’s fascists also started extolling the virtues of “pure Italic science” and persecuting academics. 

 

Hence, faculties of assorted universities across Germany, Italy, and Austria — and later, from other nations occupied by the Germans — fled Europe in droves. Many landed up in the US. They weren’t only Jewish. Academics from other backgrounds who didn’t like racism, or refused to kowtow to racist lunatics, also left. It wasn’t only scientists, mathematicians or engineers. Writers, historians and scholars of all descriptions also left.

 

Despite the fact that the US was reeling from a Depression, American universities found ways to absorb this new pool of talent and fund their research. Many of the émigré scientists also ended up participating in programmes like the Manhattan Project, where they helped develop weapons. After World War II, German scientists who had stayed behind and developed Germany’s “V” series of rockets were also absorbed into American projects like Operation Paperclip, and the Soviet space programme. Indeed, at one time, is was said that competition in the space race boiled down to whether “Our Germans are better than their Germans”.

 

Not only did the US pour more resources into research, but research in America was also unburdened by ideological biases. The Soviet Union crippled the development of bioscience by handing over control of the discipline to a charlatan called Trofim Lysenko. Lysenko propagated hypotheses that were plain wrong. But he was a drinking buddy of Stalin and scientists who pointed out that Lysenko was wrong ended up in prison. Nikolai Kondratieff, who formulated the first Five -Year Plan, was shot for predicting a recession (which happened).

 

Meanwhile, the Americans welcomed anyone with brains, including mathematicians from Iran, Soviet and Russian émigrés, and Chinese students. For decades, America’s academic establishment outpaced the world with smart people from everywhere flocking to the “Home of the Free”.

 

That attitude has changed with the advent of the Trump regime and DOGE, which is tasked with cutting federal spending. Studying climate science is now a no-no — it is politically incorrect to suggest climate change is real. Bioscientists must avoid stem cell research because stem cells are harvested from foetuses, and abortion is a no-no. Connections between gun ownership and violence cannot be studied. Vaccines are also a no-no, leading to new outbreaks of diseases like measles.

 

Universities have lost government grants, as have bodies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research projects have been terminated. Academics with valid documentation are being arrested, or refused entry to the US due to their political beliefs. The crackdown on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is yet another reason for non-white, non-male academics to feel insecure.

 

A recent survey of 1650 US-based academics, including over 1,200 scientists, by Nature magazine indicated that 75 per cent were looking to leave the US. The reasons include funding cuts, immigration restrictions, and threats to academic freedoms. Most are looking for work in places like Germany, Canada and Australia, which have a strong tradition of respecting and supporting academic research.

 

If India could attract some of that talent (and many of these researchers are desis), it could provide a huge boost to research within the country. The money to support such an initiative would easily be available, if CSR norms were tweaked appropriately. But this is likely to be a missed opportunity. India has terribly restrictive norms on granting visas for academic research and it cannot be described as a shining example of either academic freedom, or DEI.