Statement:
The motion proposes the creation of a Motion to create a Working Group on Human Rights and Academic Freedom with the mandate to act as an advisory body to EASA’s Executive Committee and to:
1. Examine the growing restrictions on academic freedom in Europe and within European universities.
2. Formulate suggestions to address the restrictions on academic freedom in Europe and within European universities.
3. Examine cases of academics, students and academic collectives who face reprisals and/or attacks for publicly sharing their anthropological analysis of colonialism and structural violence.
4. Propose a mechanism through which such cases can be addressed by EASA.
5. Suggest ways to address the situation of Palestinian and Israeli academics and students in Europe and the Middle East who speak up against state violence and censorship, and suffer punitive consequences for their actions.
6. Draft recommendations in response to these issues. The recommendations will be presented and discussed at EASA’s AGM in Barcelona in July 2024.
During the EASA AGM in December 2023 a motion was tabled to create a Working Group on Human Rights and Academic Freedom for EASA. This motion received a majority of votes in favour (60 out of 64 present, with 2 against and 4 abstentions),. It was agreed that this online ballot would follow where all EASA members have an opportunity to vote on this motion.
The motion can be seen in this newsletter article. 761 members voted in an online poll (37% turnout), with 708 (93%) voting in favour, 29 (3.8%) voting against, and 24 (3.1%) abstaining.
