When: 16 September 2026, 7pm CEST / 6pm BST
Where: on Zoom
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In the aftermath of the racist hounding and untimely death of sociologist Prof Jason Arday, the EASA executive in collaboration with the Working Group on Human Rights and Academic Freedom invites its members to a collective check in. We are aware that many of us in the EASA academic community and beyond have been deeply affected by the events surrounding, leading up to and following Prof Jason Arday’s death. Therefore, we would like to create a space for our community to express solidarity, share thoughts, experiences, and feelings as well as discuss avenues to resist a racist academia.
The right-wing hounding, which resulted in unprecedented and unrelenting media scrutiny in the case of Arday, have exposed underlying racism both inside and outside of British academia. The project of diversity in higher education, as fraught with tensions as it is, showed its cracks: Black and Brown scholars have become vulnerable and clear targets in an agenda aimed at destabilising an environment already fragile under neoliberal, right-wing and neo-fascist threat.
As anthropologists, practitioners of a discipline historically founded on colonial endeavours, but also as persons of colour living within the enduring realities of coloniality and the resurgence of pseudoscientific theories of race, we recognise the need for a space for reflection, grief and solidarity.
In line with the open-mic forum at the EASA conference last summer, this check-in provides an open, informal space for anyone who wants to speak, listen, or simply stand alongside others on questions of racism and racialization that have impacted personal well-being, scholarship, academic freedom and human rights to more direct forms of bullying and censorship. It is a chance to hear one another’s struggles across different contexts and find ways to stand behind and support each other by building new international and national infrastructures against racism. Anyone is welcome to bring a story, a concern, or a few words, or simply to be present. No formal program, just an open floor and a shared commitment to solidarity.
Opening inputs by:
Dr Hayal Akarsu (President of EASA)
Dr Sultan Doughan (Executive Member of EASA)
Dr Ruba Salih (Member of Working Group on Academic Freedom and Human Rights)
Dr Jessica Lumanisha (EASA Network Convenor of History and Heritage)
Dr Toyin Agbetu (UCL, EASA Member, Executive Member of the ASA Committee)