Letter in support of EASA Executive Committee’s Statement on the situation in Gaza, requesting the establishment of an EASA Working Group on Academic Freedom and Human Rights

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the current, ongoing attacks on academic freedom we are experiencing across Europe. We write this letter in full support of the EASA Executive Committee’s Statement on the situation in Gaza.

EASA has issued several political statements and letters of support over the years. Most recently in 2022, for example, the Executive Committee issued a statement in support of Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. Similarly, EASA’s latest statement, on the situation in Gaza, expresses grief at the massacre of thousands of Palestinian civilians. We strongly support the Executive Committee’s voicing of what we see as a necessary position in response to the indiscriminate destruction of Palestinian lives and civilian infrastructure in Gaza by the Israeli military and government. The statement also emphasises European complicity in the current violations of human rights, as well as the widespread political and media backlash against any form of academic and public solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.

In a historical moment when all informed humanitarian actors and the UN are trying to bring attention to the flagrant violations of International Humanitarian Law, and are calling for the respect of human rights and dignity in Gaza, many European academics (including anthropologists) argue for the need to remain ‘apolitical’. Yet this argument is largely used to shut down expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people and dismiss any criticism of Israel’s military offensive as anti-Semitic. The current conflict is instrumentalised to shut down nuanced opinions, including, crucially, Jewish and Palestinian voices for peace, and to intensify attacks on the social sciences for promoting critical thinking.

Anthropology is already a relatively marginal discipline that is often ignored or misunderstood in public opinion, but anthropology’s problematic past entanglement with the colonial project makes it also uniquely placed to reflect on the links between regimes of truth and colonial oppression. Nothing in the Constitution or in the bylaws prevents EASA from issuing such a statement. Quite the contrary, Article 6 of the EASA constitution states: “The objectives of the Association are to promote education and research in social anthropology by improving understanding of world societies and encouraging professional communication and cooperation between anthropologists, especially in Europe”. Being present in public conversations is part of this, as it demonstrates anthropology’s contribution to understanding world societies.

Knowledge production is and has always been inherently political. Placing current events within their broader historical and geopolitical context is, in fact, essential. It is our duty to share our expertise in wider public debates, and we should be able to do so free from fear of censure, harassment, and reprisal. A statement such as EASA’s becomes particularly important when there is a dominant, mainstream narrative that drowns out other voices. Moreover, the decision to stay silent in response to ongoing atrocities and efforts to silence fellow academics is also a statement in itself, and one that we do not support.

In light of the growing restrictions on academic freedom in Europe and the threats colleagues are facing as a result of their public stance against the human rights violations committed in Palestine, we request that EASA’s Executive Committee establishes a Working Group tasked to 1/ Look into and address the growing restrictions on academic freedom in Europe, 2/ Offer support to colleagues who face reprisals for publicly sharing their anthropological analysis of settler colonialism, 3/ Look into and suggest ways to address the situation of Palestinian academics and students in Europe and the Middle East. This working group should draft policy recommendations that will be presented and discussed during the upcoming EASA General Assembly in Barcelona in July 2024.

We understand that some of our colleagues who are currently being silenced will not be able to sign this letter. We therefore ask everyone to join the EASA General Assembly on 21 December (online, from 2 to 4PM CET) and vote anonymously in favour of the establishment of the Working Group on Academic Freedom and Human Rights.



1. Agathe Mora, Lecturer, University of Sussex and Visiting Professor, University of Lausanne

2. Julie Billaud, Associate Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute

3. Umut Yıldırım, Assistant Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute

4. Heidi Mogstad, Postdoctoral scholar, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI)

5. Marianna Betti, Postdoctoral scholar, University of Bergen (UiB)

6. Pedro Silva Rocha Lima, Lecturer, University of Manchester

7. Ian Cook, Editor-in-Chief, Allegra Lab

8. Antonio De Lauri, Research Professor, Chr. Michelsen Institute

9. Hanna Berg, PhD candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

10. Till Mostowlansky, Research Professor, Geneva Graduate Institute

11. Chandana Mathur, Associate Professor, Maynooth University

12. Mirjam Twigt, Postdoctoral scholar, Leiden University

13. Yazid Ben Hounet, CNRS, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale

14. Marion Slitine, Postdoctoral researcher, EHESS Paris

15. Malay Firoz, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

16. Anwesha Dutta , Chr Michelsen Institute, Norway

17. Thomas Strong, Lecturer, Maynooth University

18. Sabrina Tosi Cambini, Università di Parma

19. Estella Carpi, Assistant Professor in Humanitarian Studies, University College London

20. Fiona Murphy, Assistant Professor in Refugee Studies, Dublin City University

21. Victoria Sanford, Lehman Professor of Excellence, Lehman College, City University of New York

22. Martin Fotta, Researcher, Institute of Ethnology, Czech Academy of Sciences

23. Yasar Abu Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Charles University

24. Giuliana Sanò, Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Messina

25. Alessandro Monsutti, Professor of Anthropology, Geneva Graduate Institute

26. Jean-François Bayart, professeur à l'IHEID

27. Geoffrey Hughes, Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter

28. Nasrin Khandoker, Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept. of Sociology and Criminology, University College Cork.

29. Geoffrey Aung, Universitätsassistent (postdoc), Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna

30. Gianfranco Rebucini, research fellow CNRS, Laboratoire d'anthropologie politique

31. Alessandra Gribaldo, Associate Professor, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

32. Ruba Salih, Professor of Anthropology, University of Bologna

33. Carmeliza Rosario, Chr. Michelsen Institute

34. Claudio Sopranzetti, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Central European University

35.  Ruy Llera Blanes, CRIA (ISCTE-IUL) and University of Gothenburg

36. Erol Saglam, IMU

37. Paul Gilbert, Senior Lecturer, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex

38. Matthew Canfield, Assistant Professor, Van Volllenhoven Institute for Law, Governance, and Society, Leiden Law School

39. Filippo Osella, Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies, University of Sussex

40. Nafay Choudhury, British Academy Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science

41. Anais Djouad - ATER UPEC et sociologue diplômée de l'EHESS

42. Iris Sportel, Assistant Professor, Institute for Sociology of Law, Radboud University Nijmegen

43. Tobias Marschall, research associate, Geneva Graduate Institute

44. Caroline Bennett, Lecturer, School of Global Studies, University of Sussex

45. Michèle Leclerc-Olive CNRS (retraitée)

46. Barbara Glowczewski Professorial emeritus Researcher, CNRS/Collège de France/EHESS

47. Prem Kumar Rajaram, Professor of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Central European University

48. Vlad Schüler Costa, The University of Manchester

49. Lene Swetzer, Geneva Graduate Institute

50. Samuli Lähteenaho, doctoral candidate, University of Helsinki

51. Simona Taliani, Professor of Anthropology, University of L'Orientale (Naples, Italy)

52. Elena Krsmanovic, Postdoctoral researcher Gerda Henkel Stiftung

53. Louiza Odysseos, Professor of International Relations, University of Sussex

54. Tommaso Sbriccoli, Research Fellow, UCL (University of London)

55. Roberto Beneduce, Professor of Anthropology of Body and Violence, University of Turin, Dept. of Cultures, Politics and Society

56. Claude Calame, Ecole des Hautes Etdues en Sciences Sociales, Paris

57. Judith Scheele, EHESS, France

58. Priyanka Borpujari, doctoral candidate, Dublin City University

59. Safet HadžiMuhamedović, Research Associate, University of Cambridge, UK

60. Philippe Forêt, Environmental Humanities Switzerland, SAGUF, Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences

61. Mary Picone, associate professor of Anthropology (retired) EHESSH

62. Jean-Pierre Digard (CNRS, Paris)

63. Ana Laura Rodriguez Quinones, University of Lausanne

64. Shahram Khosravi, Professor, Stockholm University

65. Ellen Hertz, Anthropology Institute, University of Neuchâtel

66. Manuela Ciotti, Professor of the Social and Cultural Anthropology of the Global South, University of Vienna

67. Luca Gabbiani, Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris

68. Can Aciksoz, associate professor of anthropology, UCLA

69. Lucille Florenza, Phd student, anthropology, Marseille

70. Elena Burgos Martinez, Assistant Professor of Environmental Politics, Leiden University

71. Miriyam Aouragh, Professor of Digital Anthropology, University of Westminster

72. Rahma Bavelaar, doctoral candidate, University of Amsterdam

73. Katarzyna Grabska, Research Professor, Peace Research Instiitute, Oslo

74. Noor Blaas

75. Pascale Schild, Associated Researcher, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern

76. Catherine Baroin, retired anthropologist from CNRS, France

77. Raja Taouinet

78. Maura Finkelstein, associate professor of anthropology

79. Filippo Zerilli, Professor, University of Cagliari

80. Gabriele Weichart, Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna

81. Anahy Gajardo, Lecturer, Université de Neuchâtel

82. Meghna Roy, Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Oslo

83. Céline Heini, phd candidate, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

84. Stuart McLean, Professor of Anthropology and Global Studies, University of Minnesota

85. Jonathan Galton, Leverhulme ECF, Social Research Institute, UCL

86. Agnieszka Pasieka, University of Vienna

87. Jessica Greenberg, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois

88. Scott Ross, Lecturer of Anthropology, Washington University of St. Louis

89. Dina Zbeidy, lecturer, Leiden University of Applied Sciences

90. Nefissa Naguib, Professor, University of Oslo

91. Chris Schulmeister, Princeton Anthr.

92. Joel Rodrigues, PhD student, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University

93. Tomas Cole, Postdoc at Stockholm University

94. Catherine Raya Polishchuk, PhD student, University of Vienna

95. Konstantin Georgiev, PhD candidate, Rice University, Houston, Texas

96. Clara Lecadet, research fellow CNRS, Laboratoire d'anthropologie politique

97. Siri Schwabe

98. Kathleen Openshaw, Lecturer, Western Sydney University

99. Didier Fassin, Professor, Collège de France

100. Wiebe Ruijtenberg, Postdoctoral Researcher, Leiden University

101. Gaston Gordillo, Professor, University of British Columbia

102. Omar Ribeiro Thomaz, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

103. Annelies Moors, professor emerita, anthropology, University of Amsterdam

104. Jessica Katzenstein, postdoctoral fellow, Harvard University

105. Robert D. Smith, PhD Candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

106. Sandra Wolanski, Researcher CONICET - CITRA - Universidad de Buenos Aires

107. Pierre Wenzel, Phd Student, Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna

108. Paolo Favero, University of Antwerp

109. Ella Hillström, PhD student, Stockholm University

110. Ville Laakkonen, Doctoral Candidate, Tampere University

111. Gabriel Lennon, PhD Candidate, Stockholm University

112. Klara Öberg, senior lecturer, Halmstad University

113. Valentina Benincasa, PhD Candidate, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

114. Cristina Douglas, PhD candidate, University of Aberdeen

115. Stefano Portelli, Institut Català d'Antropologia

116. Koen Bogaert, Associate Professor, Ghent University

117. Patricia Zuckerhut, Senior Lecturer, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, University of Vienna

118. Noemi Didu, PhD candidate, Aix-Marseille Université

119. Maria Kokkinou, anthropologue, Paris

120. Victor Nygren, PhD student, Stockholm University

121. Catherine Scheer, Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, Paris

122. Annika Rabo, professor emeritus, Stockholm University

123. Marine Legrand, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech

124. Yael Navaro, Professor, University of Cambridge

125. Lotte Buch Segal, Social Anthropology, University of Edinburgh

126. Marie-Claude Haince, Université de Montréal

127. Fred Wojnarowski, Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Anthropology, LSE

128. Nayanika Mookherjee, Professor of Political Anthropology, Durham University, UK

129. Zakaria Rhani, Mohammed V University, Rabat

130. Emma Cyr, PhD Candidate, Stockholm University

131. Branwen Spector, Lecturer, University College London

132. Tobias Kelly, University of Edinburgh

133. Matt Barlow, Ph.D.

134. Lamia Moghnieh, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Copenhagen

135. Karin Norman, Professor emerita, Stockholm University

136. Fatima Tassadiq, University of Sheffield

137. Isabelle Rivoal, CNRS, Nanterre

138. Nayanika Mathur, Professor of Anthropology, University of Oxford

139. Olga Demetriou, Professor in Political Anthropology, Durham University

140. Dawn Chatty, Emeritus Professor University of Oxford

141. Zerrin Ozlem Biner, Senior Lecturer, SOAS

142. Elaine McIlwraith, PhD

143. Máire Ní Mhórdha, Maynooth University

144. Lori Allen, Professorial Research Associate, SOAS University of London

145. Lee Douglas, Lecturer, Goldsmith

146. Martino Miceli, PhD, EHESS

147. Françoise Grange Omokaro, Lecturer, Graduate Institute, Geneva

148. Janne Bøe, Head of Office, HVL

149. Luke Heslop, Lecturer, Brunel University London

150. Jérémie Voirol, Research Fellow, University of Manchester

151. Ruth Loos, PhD, Sint Lucas School of Arts Antwerp

152. Valeria Ribeiro Corossacz, Università Roma Tre

153. Evi Chatzipanagiotidou, Queen's University Belfast

154. Martyn Wemyss, lecturer goldsmiths University

155. Ioannis Tsioulakis, Reader in Anthropology, Queen's University Belfast

156. Rosanna Gullà, PHD candidate medical Anthropology URV, Tarragona

157. Anna Younes, Anthropologist, Researcher at UvA, NL

158. Chakib Ararou, PhD candidate in Arab literature, Aix-Marseille University, France

159. Lucilla Lepratti, PhD candidate, University of Bayreuth

160. Judy Thorne, Lecturer in Social Anthropology, University of Manchester

161. Caitlin Procter, Marie Curie Research Fellow, Geneva Graduate Institute

162. Panos Achniotis, PhD candidate in Social Anthropology, University of Manchester

163. Lojine Hanoun, PhD candidate, University of Manchester

164. Rebecca Appleton, PhD candidate in Social Anthropology, University of Manchester

165. Alexandra Kowalski, Assistant Professor, Department of sociology and Social Anthropology, CEU Vienna

166. Ayham Dalal, Assistant Professor, German University in Cairo

167. Anne Meneley, Professor of Anthropology, Trent University

168. Cristiana Strava, Assistant Professor, School of Middle Eastern Studies, Leiden University

169. Yasmin Snounu, Ph.D. in Educational Studies, Eastern Michigan University.

170. Annika Rabo, emeritus professor, Stockholm University

171. Michelle Obeid, University of Manchester

172. Chika Watanabe, University of Manchester

173. Alexandra D’Onofrio, Lecturer, University of Manchester

174. Jane K. Cowan, University of Sussex

175. James Cuffe, University College Cork

176. Susan Levine, Professor of Anthropology University of Cape Town

177. Mahmoud Keshavarz, Associate Professor, Uppsala University

178. Ghassan Hage, Professor, University of Melbourne

179. Francesco Fanoli, Independent scholar

180. Philipp Zehmisch, Assistant Professor, Heidelberg University

181. Petra Tjitske Kalshoven, University of Manchester

182. Molly McGrath, University of Cologne

183. Julia Sauma, Lecturer, Goldsmiths, University of London

184. Annika Lems, senior lecturer, Australian National University

185. Elisabetta Costa, Associate Professor, University of Antwerp

186. Riddhi Pandey, Ph.D. Candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

187. Othman Belkebir, ph.D candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

188. Elżbieta Drązkiewicz, Lund University

189. Delcia Orona, Alumna, Anthropology & Sociology, Geneva Graduate Institute

190. Ezgi Guner, University of Edinburgh

191. Sophia Hoffinger, PhD candidate, University of Edinburgh

192. Cormac Cleary, PhD Researcher, University of Edinburgh

193. David Sneath, Professor, University of Cambridge

194. Hangan Monica Daniela, student, Faculty of Sociology

195. Julie Castro, University ​of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland

196. Joel White, University of Newcastle

197. Guangtian Ha, Assistant Professor of Religion, Haverford College

198. Caroline Humphrey, emeritus Professor, University of Cambridge

199. Sam Jošić, Former Student Assistant, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna

200. Ayça Çubukçu, Associate Professor in Human Rights, London School of Economics and Political Science

201. Marlene Schäfers, Utrecht University

202. Cindy Horst, Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo

203. Pol Llopart i Olivella, PhD candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

204. Evina van Marrewijk, Cultural Anthropology, University of Utrecht

205. Zaki Arrobi, Utrecht University

206. Niek van de Pas, Utrecht University

207. Saul Mullard, Senior Researcher, Christian Michelsen Institute, Bergen Norway

208. Robin Smith, Marie Curie Fellow, Copenhagen Business School

209. Hayley Umayam, PhD candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

210. Fida Adely, Associate Professor, Georgetown University

211. Amahl Bishara, Associate Prof. of Anthropology, Tufts Unviersity

212. Omer Aijazi, Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University of Manchester

213. Rosana Carvalho Paiva, Fundació Autònoma Solidària - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

214. Rebecca Bryant, Professor, Utrecht University

215. Charles O. Warner III, doctoral candidate, University of Leuven

216. Jeanette Jouili, Associate Professor, Syracuse University

217. Aditi Saraf, Utrecht University

218. Iwona Kaliszewska, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw

219. Omer Aijazi, University of Manchester

220. Asli Telli, Associate Professor, Wits University

221. Swetlana Torno, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, MPI for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity

222. Esra Ozyurek, Professor, University of Cambridge

223. Chowra Makaremi, Research Scholar CNRS Paris

224. Andrea Bruno Aureli, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, JFRC, Rome

225. Natalia Buitron, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Cambridge

226. Jaafar Alloul, Utrecht University

226. Margarita Lipatova, University of Leipzig

227. Alice von Bieberstein, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

228. Claire Pisters, Utrecht University

229. Camilla Mevik, University of Oslo

229. Purbasha Mazumdar, PhD candidate, Geneva Graduate Institute

230. Ali Venir, doctoral candidate, Utrecht University

231. Meenakshi N Ambujam

232. Mayssa Rekhis, University of Gothenburg

233. Nikkie Wiegink, Utrecht University, co-convener of EASA Anthropology of Mining Network

234. Sebastien Bachelet, University of Manchester

235. Theodora Vetta, University of Barcelona

236. Jonathan Larcher, Associate Professor, Université Paris Nanterre

237. Virginia Fons, Associate Professor, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

238. Elisa Alegre Agís, Universitat Rovira i Virgili

239. Hannah Wadle, Adam-Mickiewicz-University Poznań

240. Eva Mompó, Universitat de València

241. Miria Gambardella, Doctoral Researcher, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

242. Fabiola Mancinelli, Assistant Lecturer, University of Barcelona

243. Alberto Corsín Jiménez, Spanish National Research Council

244. Santiago López-Pavillard, PhD, Director AE

245. Diego Amoedo Martinez - Professor Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará

246. Olatz González Abrisketa, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

247. Juliane Müller, University of Barcelona

248. Gerard Horta, Lecturer, Universitat de Barcelona

249. Narges Ansari, postdoc researcher, Goldsmiths, University of London

250. Camila del Mármol, Associate Professor, Universitat de Barcelona

251. Alejandro Miquel Novajra, Professor of Anthropology, Universitat de les Illes Balears

252. Alice Corble, Research Fellow, University of Sussex

253. Alberto López Bargados, University of Barcelona

254. Sevda Tunaboylu, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Barcelona

255. Vita Peacock, King's College London

256. Francesc Alemany Sureda, PhD Student in University of Basque Country, EHU/UPV

257. Sara Pastor Talboom, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

258. Luis Puche, University of Málaga

259. Virginia Murialdo Miniello, Associate Professor, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

260. Ariadna Ayala Rubio, Lecturer, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

261. Zeynep Oguz, University of Edinburgh

262. Marta Pérez, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

263. Josep Lluís Mateo Dieste, Associate Professor, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

264. Mireia Campanera, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

265. Alice Van den Bogaert, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

266. Nuria del Viso Pabon, Researcher, FUHEM

267. Carmen Lamela, Universidade da Coruña

268. Montserrat Clua i Fainé, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

269. Juan Román Méndez, UNED

270. Silvina Monteros Obelar, University of Granada

271. Peter Lockwood, Hallsworth Fellow, University of Manchester

272. Martin Lundsteen, University of Barcelona

273. María Cátedra. Universidad Complutense de Madrid

274. Pablo Quintero, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona

275. Ixone Fernandez de Labastida, University of the Basque Country

276. Daniel Ahmed Fernández, University of Barcelona

277. Jose Antonio Langarita, Associate Professor, Universitat de Girona

278. Domenico Branca, Università di Sassari

279. Ana Claudia Marques, Associate Professor, Universidade de São Paulo

280. Patrick O'Hare, University of St Andrews

281. Paloma Yáñez Serrano, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

282. Lidia Montesinos, University of Basque Country UPV/EHU

283. Sandra Fernández García, Lecturer, Nacional University of Distance Education, Spain.

284. Martí Torra-Merin, PhD Student at University of Barcelona

285. Miguel Aparicio, Professor, Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, Brazil

286. Manuel Delgado, professor, Universitat de Barcelona

287. Aitzpea Leizaola, Associate professor, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

288. Elisabeth Lorenzi, Profesora Adjunta Universidad Politecnica de Madrid

289. Amaia Castresana Palma

290. Alice Aterianus-Owanga, Assistant Professor, University of Neuchâtel

291. Ignacio Fradejas-García, Substitute Professor, University of Oviedo

292. Margaret Bullen, Associate professor, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

293. Alèxia Rué, Universitat de Barcelona

294. Eloi Sendrós Ferrer, Universitat de Barcelona.

295. Santiago Ripoll, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

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