10 reasons for a strong Civil Clause

The proposed changes to the Civil Clause currently being considered by the Senate ultimately amount to its abolition. The proposed reformulation (opens in a new tab) weakens the civilian character of research and teaching. In the future, therefore, research, development, teaching, and technology transfer could pursue military ends. As such, this is no longer about a CIVIL Clause. Generalizing formulations like “peacekeeping,” “preventing war,” or “strengthening democracy” may sound unambiguous, but they are open to opposing interpretations. Across the world, these terms have been used to legitimize wars (of aggression) and armed conflicts. Because the terms democracy, peace, and war prevention are open to various interpretations, they do not provide any clear orientation for the Senate or for any commissions introduced by it.

It has been argued that the Civil Clause is no longer relevant, that the boundaries between civilian and military aims are fluid, and that academic research and development can be used for purposes other than initially imagined (dual use). The decisive question, however, is the purpose of the research and who commissions it. The fact of dual use does not relieve a public university from its due diligence to assess relevant risks and consequences. Such decisions cannot be delegated to individual researchers. We propose that the Senate supplement the existing Civil Clause with an independent ethics commission, with representatives from all the status groups. The ethics commission would assess disputed research projects according to transparent criteria and clear concepts. The commission would also need clear guidelines. This is provided in the existing clause, but not in the reformulation.

The unique feature of the University of Kassel is its holistic approach to research, development, teaching, and technology transfer, which is dedicated to a socially just, ecologically and economically sustainable future. (opens in a new tab) Research, teaching, and technology transfer should contribute to fulfilling the United Nation’s 17 global sustainability goals. The Kassel Institute for Sustainability (KIS) (opens in a new tab) was founded in 2022 for this purpose. Both arms reseach as well as the development of military goods contradict the university’s own established goals. The global arms race exacerbates climate change (opens in a new tab) and species extinction, while the rising number of wars and armed conflicts increase poverty, hunger, and gender inequalities (opens in a new tab). The University of Kassel loses credibility if it abolishes the Civil Clause that has been in place since 2013.

The claim is often made that arms expenditures are necessary for the ability of Germany to defend itself and that the research associated with these expenditures contributes to security. Whose security is achieved and in what ways, however, remains unclear. In an HNA interview in May 2025, Ute Clement (opens in a new tab), the President of the University of Kassel, also emphasizes: “Security in our time is no longer just a matter of tanks.” Social, economic, and ecological security are central challenges to our societies, particularly in times when social inequality, armed conflicts, and violence against minority groups are on the rise and the consequences of the climate catastrophe continue to intensify. There is expertise for these topics at the University of Kassel in research, development, and teaching, and this expertise needs to be expanded, for instance in the areas of social defense, ecological and digital resilience, peace research, conflict prevention, and distaster preparedness. Maintaining the Civil Clause allows the university to make a social and relevant contribution to comprehensive security and defense capacity.

Worldwide over the past 10 years, the arms industry has seen steady growth. Nearly 3,000 billion US dollars (opens in a new tab) are spent on munitions every year. Behind the USA, China, and Russia, Germany is one of the countries in the world with the highest expenditures for military purposes. This enormous public investment largely profits private arms concerns. In Kassel, for example, these are Rheinmetall and KNDS, which manufacture tanks among other things. The share value of Rheinmetall alone has risen by more than 1,600 percent (opens in a new tab) in the last 10 years. The current state of the world is thus highly profitable (opens in a new tab) for arms manufacturers. Diplomacy and non-military conflict resolution are not part of their business model, which is aligned much more with arms export and investment, including in states with active conflict. (opens in a new tab) Cooperations with the arms industry in research, development, teaching, and transfer continually bind the university more strongly with the economic interests of these corporations. In addition, cooperations with state agencies such as the Defense Ministry intensify the logic of war at universities and undermine independent research and teaching.

Time and again we have heard the claim that the Civil Clause would amount to an inappropriate intervention into individual academic freedom. This claim ignores the fact that a democratically decided Civil Clause is the expression of collective academic freedom. As a collective freedom, it can have a binding effect and place limits on individual academic freedom. Furthermore, the orientation to peace among public institutions is enshrined in numerous provisions in the Basic Order. (opens in a new tab) There has been, however, an increase in political attempts (opens in a new tab) to intervene in academic and university autonomy. Several months before the debate about reforming the Civil Clause began in the Senate, the Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts (opens in a new tab) held a meeting with companies from the arms industry, after which they announced the beginning of “a comprehensive process of dialog [with universities] on security-related research and on Civil Clauses.” Advocating for the Civil Clause therefore also means defending university autonomy and academic freedom.

The political pressure on the Civil Clause is increasing at a point in time when drastic cuts to university funding are being implemented by the local Hessian government. In 2026 alone, the funds available to universities in Hesse have been cut by 30 million euros (opens in a new tab). Positions are not being filled and the workload for the remaining staff is increasing. At the same time the local government is investing 25 million euros in the private arms industry and the construction of the “Defence Hub Nordhessen.” (opens in a new tab) Public funds are lavishly bestowed on profit-driven arms manufacturers, while cuts are made to education and science as investments in the future. Rather than insisting that private arms concerns rescue universities from this predicament, we must advocate for reliable and solid core funding for universities.

The University of Kassel has been committed for many years to internationalizing research and teaching. International colleagues and students often come from areas of conflict and war, where weapons from Germany (opens in a new tab) have been used to violate human rights (this is the case, among others, in Syria, Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, Sudan, Mexico, and Columbia). In addition, the German government maintains military cooperations with numerous countries that are responsible for sweeping violations of human rights (opens in a new tab) or are themselves active warring parties (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel). The University of Kassel includes colleagues and students that have fled authoritarian regimes, where critical scholarship and freedom of opinion is persecuted (for instance Turkey, Russia, or Iran). They relate how the military buildup of states also entails the militarization of society, and how dissenting voices from academia, journalism, and civil society as well as minorities within the society come under the scrutiny of state authorities. A recent example of this can be seen in the statement by a leading figure in the AfD expressing the intention to use the expansion of the arms industry to facilitate deportations of people as well. (opens in a new tab) Maintaining the Civil Clause is a democratic method to preclude the national and international development of authoritarianism.

The main campus of the University of Kassel is located on the grounds of the former Henschel factories (opens in a new tab). Henschel & Sohn was one of the most significant arms manufacturers in National Socialist Germany. The factories and 80 percent of the city of Kassel were destroyed by British bombs in the struggle of the Allied Forces against the warring Nazi state. The postwar rebuilding of the city followed plans by Nazi architects and urban planners, who had designed streets for military parades. Even today, tanks are transported over these streets. The large arms corporations located in Kassel—KNDS and Rheinmetall—have their company roots in the Imperial Period and they profited enormously from the First and Second World Wars (opens in a new tab). Today they are among the most profitable enterprises in the country. Kassel is the most significant arms manufacturing site in Hesse. But both the campus and the city warn: the arms industry brings destruction, also to its own population. Advocating for retaining and strengthening the existing Civil Clause means learning from history and therefore taking responsibility for it.

One consequence of weakening the Civil Clause is the potential opening of the university’s Basic Order to military logics. This development is aligned with current efforts to “securitize” (opens in a new tab) university and academic policy in Germany. This does not mean increasing security for students and staff, to the contrary: the reformulation of the Civil Clause could restrict freedom of movement on campus due to elevated security standards, and may result in an increase of confidentiality clauses. Colleagues could be required, despite expressing ethical concerns, to contribute to military research projects or to help administer them, financially or otherwise.