Open Letter to the University of Vienna, Institute for African Studies

We, the undersigned, condemn the interference by the Austrian Students’ Union (ÖH), the Jewish Austrian Students’ Union (JÖH) and others in a lecture series organized by the Institute for African Studies, the research platform Mobile Cultures and Societies and the Association Dar al Janub.
The Institute for African Studies already hosted Dr. Greg Thomas, associate professor for Black Studies and Literature in English from Tufts University on 29th of May 2018. Professor Thomas gave a talk titled The Complete Fanon: African Revolution, Black Power Movement, and Neo-colonial Imperialism.
Another lecture is scheduled for the 21st of June. I will be given by former Black Panther member Dhoruba bin Wahad, who will reflect upon the Black Panther struggle and his 19 years of imprisonment in the US.
The attempt to prevent both lectures is based on the argument that the Association Dar al Janub supports the Palestinian-led international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement for freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people. Therefore—according to the argument—the association should not be allowed to hold events at the University of Vienna or even just to engage in cooperation with various departments and academic staff.
We strongly believe that such efforts violate academic freedom and the right to free speech at the University of Vienna.
The invitation of Greg Thomas and Dhoruba bin Wahad aims to open up the academic space to engage with Black Civil Rights activists, their community struggles for justice and equality and their histories. These histories are entangled with transnational solidarity campaigns which include the BDS movement, as Angela Davis reminded us in her talk at the University of Vienna on the occasion of its 650th anniversary in 2015.
As much as we respect and support the democratic value of student unions to actively participate in debates about University politics and events planned on campus, we are deeply concerned about the attempt to prevent the upcoming lecture by Dhoruba bin Wahad and to exercise pressure on the Institute of African Studies to withdraw from cooperation with Dar al Janub.
We urge the University of Vienna and the board of the Institute of African Studies to support open discussions and the upcoming event.


Signatures (so far):


 Dr Nick Evans, University of Cambridge
 Max Leak, Oxford University (Alumnus)
 Jonathan Rosenhead, Emeritus Professor, Department of Management, London School of Economics
 Professor Dr. Richard Seaford, University of Exeter, UK
 Dr Les Levidow, Senior Research Fellow, Open University, UK
 Dr Anne Alexander, University of Cambridge
 Tom Hickey, University of Brighton, UK
 John Chalcraft, Professor of Middle East History and Politics, Government
Department, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
 Jonathan M Woodham, Emeritus Professor of Design History, Brighton
 James Dickins, Prof. of Arabic, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
 Dr Patricia McManus, School of Humanities, University of Brighton
 Dr Don Crewe PhD, School of Social Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, UK
 Dr Mette Wiggen, School of Politics & International Studies (POLIS), University of Leeds
 Dr Rasha Soliman – University of Leeds
 Professor Matt Meyer, Senior Research Scholar, UMass/Amherst Resistance Studies Initiative; UN representative, International Peace Research Association
 Dr Lori Allen, SOAS, University of London
 Dr Theodore Koulouris, Senior Lecturer in Media Theory, School of Media, University of Brighton
 Ruth Orli Moshkovitz, University of Vienna (alumna)
 Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad, former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army
 Prof. Neve Gordon, Marie Curie Fellow, School of Law, Queen Mary University, London
 Bob Brecher, Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Brighton UK
 Dr Robin Dunford, School of Humanities, University of Brighton
 Ray Bush, Professor of African Studies and Development Politics, POLIS, University of Leeds
 Barnaby Raine, Columbia University
 Dr Clint Le Bruyns, Director, Theology and Development Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
 Prof. Marwan Rashed, Sorbonne Université, department of Philosophy
 Mag. Peter Unterweger, Secretary, Int’l Metalworkers Federation, ret.
 Herman De Ley, Emeritus Professor, University of Ghent, Belgium
 Naor Ben-Yehoyada, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University
 Dr Sam Durrant, Associate Professor in Postcolonial Literature, School of English, Leeds University
 Dr Ghada Karmi, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK
 Agustin Velloso, Lecturer, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Madrid – Spain
 Javier Barquin Ruiz, Associate Professor, Departament Didáctics and School Planning, Faculty of Education,Malaga University, Spain
 Prof. Haim Bresheeth, Professorial Research Associate, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, School of Oriental and African Studies And Director of Camera Obscura Films, SOAS University of London
 María-José Lera, Professor, Dpt. Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
 Dr Sai Englert, SOAS, University of London
 Jean-Pierre Bouché , Research Director (retired), CNRS, France
 Josef Pampalk, PhD, retired lecturer at Dept. African Studies, University Vienna
 Efia Nwangaza, Executive Director, Malcolm X Center, Greenville, SC USA
 Dror Warschawski, Research Associate, CNRS, Paris, France
 Wilhelm Langthaler, author and activist
 Isabel Frey, Junior Researcher, VUmc, Amsterdam
 Iris Hefets, Psychoanalyst, Berlin, Germany
 Rabah Tahraoui , Professeur des universités, retraité de l’université de Rouen, France
 Dr Peter E Jones, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
 Dr. Daniel Winkler, Ass.-Prof., Romanistik, Universität Wien
 Mag. Dr. Arno Sonderegger, Privatdozent, Senior Lecturer, Institute of African Studies, University of Vienna
 Dr. Bea de Abreu Fialho Gomes, Senior Lecturer, Institut für Internationale Entwicklung, Universität Wien
 Mag. Elke Christiansen, StudienService Institut für Internationale Entwicklung
 Dr. Walter Sauer, Univ. Prof., Historian, Univ. Vienna
 Immanuel Harisch, PhD-candidate, Platform Mobile Cultures and Societies, University Vienna
 Dr. Erwin Ebermann, Senior Lecturer, Institut für Afrikawissenschaften, Universität Wien
 Prof. Dr. Henning Melber, University of Pretoria and University of the Free State, Bloemfontein President of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institute
 Javier Barreda, Lecturer on Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Alicante, Spain
 Ivar Ekeland, former president, the University of Paris-Dauphine
 Dr Victoria Margree, University of Brighton
 María López Villalba, Departamento de Traducción e Interpretación, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Málaga – Spain
 Dr Elisa Greco (Uni Leeds) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Prof. Gabrielle Lynch (Uni Warwick) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Emeritus Professor Peter Lawrence (Uni Keele) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Jorg Wiegratz (Uni Leeds) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Colin Stoneman (Uni York retired) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Morris Szeftel (Uni Leeds, retired) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Professor Graham Harrison (Uni Sheffield) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Hannah Cross (Uni Westminster) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Branwen Gruffydd Jones (Uni Cardiff) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Alex Beresford (Uni Leeds) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Akin Iwilade (Uni Leeds) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Clare Smedley – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Reginald Cline-Cole (Uni Birmingham) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Laura Mann (LSE) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Janet Bujra (Uni Bradford retired) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Peter Dwyer (Ruskin College) – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Leo Zeilig – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr. Ingeborg Grau, Univ.Lekt. i.R.
 Andrea Kremser, alumna and Administrative Assistant, Department of Development Studies, University of Vienna (Austria)
 Mag. Karl-Heinz Rathke, 5252 Aspach, OÖ
 Stefan Kraft, Publizist, Wien
 Hannes Hofbauer, Autor und Verleger
 a.o. Univ. Prof. Dr. Andrea Komlosy, Institut für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte, Universität Wien
 Prof. Dr. Franz Leidenmühler, Head of the Institute of EU Law, Johannes Kepler University Linz
 Michelle Hartman, Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
 Dr. Greg Thomas, Associate Professor of Black Studies & English Literature, Tufts University USA
 Dr. Norma Rantisi, Professor, Geography, Planning & Environment, Concordia University, Canada
 Aziz Choudry, Associate Professor, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University (Canada)
 Dr Nicola Pratt, University of Warwick, UK
 Simona Sharoni,, Ph.D, Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies, Merrimack College North Andover Massachusetts, USA
 Doris Ghannam, activist, Berlin
 Adrienne Carey Hurley, Associate Professor of East Asian Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
 Prof. Salim Vally, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg
 M.Sc. Stephanie Reiß, Technical University Ilmenau
 Michael Letwin, Labor for Palestine; Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325 (NYC); Organizing Collective, USACBI
 Malek Abisaab, Associate Professor, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
 Dr Matteo Rizzo, SOAS – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr. Hilla Dayan, Amsterdam University College
 Cynthia Franklin, Professor of English, University of Hawai’i, USA
 Audrey Bomse, National Lawyers Guild (US)
 Peyman Jafari, Lecturer in Modern History, University of Amsterdam
 Dr. Corinna Mullin, Research Associate, School of Oriental and African Studies
 Ehab Lotayef, IT & Tech. Services Manager, ECE, McGill University – Canada
 Sunaina Maira, Professor, Asian American Studies, Univ of California, Davis
 David Klein, Professor of Mathematics, California State University Northridge, USA
 Dr Diane Frost, Uni Liverpool – Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Julia Preisker, MA, phd-fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences
 Univ.-Professorin Dr. Petra Dannecker, Universität Wien, Institut für Internationale Entwicklung
 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Kirsten Rüther, Universität Wien, Institut für Afrikawissenschaften
 Barbara Rohregger, PHD, Social Policy and Social Protection Expert, Venice
 Ina Ivanceanu, Head of Science Communication at Oikodrom, The Vienna Institute for Urban Sustainability
 Mag. Margareta Mahidi, ehemalige Hörerin des Instituts für Afrikawissenschaft, Universität Wien
 Ao. Univ. Prof. Dr. d’Etat Dr. (i.R.) Zohra Bouchentouf-Siagh
 Paul Winter, Verlagslektor
 Markus Gatschnegg, Internationale Entwicklung
 Ao. Univ. Prof. Mag. Dr. Friedrich Frosch, Institut für Romanistik, Universität Wien
 Sandra Vlasta, Marie-Skłodowska-Curie-Fellow, Gutenberg-Institut für Weltliteratur und schriftorientierte Medien, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
 Johann Andreas Müllner (Romanistik, Uni. Wien)
 Dr. Wiebke Sievers, Institut für Stadt- und Regionalforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien
 Chandni Desai, University of Toronto
 Terri Ginsberg, The American University in Cairo
 Charlotte Kates, International Coordinator, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
 Jordan S. Kushner, Civil Rights, Attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
 Prof. Dr. em. Madeline Lutjeharms (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Belgium
 Ebony Coletu, Assistant Professor. Pennsylvania State University
 Prof. Ilan Pappé, Professor of History, Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter
 Dr. Sanaa Alimia, Research Fellow, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin
 Mag. Katharina Gartner, MA, PhD Candidate, Department of African Studies, University of Vienna
 Dr. Helmut Krieger, University of Vienna
 Prof. Moshe Zuckermann, Tel Aviv University
 Prof. Tunde Zack-Williams- Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy
 Dr Robert Boyce, Department of International History, London School of Economics
 Kevin A. Gould, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University, Canada
 Dr. Gabriele Slezak, Institut für Afrikawissenschaften Universität Wien
 Akinyele Umoja, Professor and Chair, Department of African-American Studies, Georgia State University
 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Alexandra Ganser, Director, Research Platform Mobile Cultures and Societies, Executive Director, ZKS – Centre for Canadian Studies, Department of English and American Studies, University of Vienna
 Kevin Potter, University Assistant and Ph.D Candidate, Department of English and American Studies Universität Wien
 Dr. Daniela Waldburger, lic. phil. I, Senior Lecturer Swahili, Lektorin
Sprachwissenschaft, Institut für Afrikawissenschaften
 Dr. Philipp Bruckmayr, Institut für Orientalistik – Institute for Oriental Studies Universität Wien – University of Vienna
 Mag. Dominik Frühwirth, BA.
 Adam Baltner, MA-candidate, University of Vienna
 Stephan Bartunek, Magister artium, Autor, Künstler und Aktivist
 Ian Barnard, Ph.D., Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, Chapman University, USA
 Aneil Rallin, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Soka University of America
 Anne Meneley, Professor, Dept of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada
 Peter Chidiac, PhD, Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
 Faisal Bhabha, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School | York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
 Sylvat Aziz, Associate Professor, Visual Arts, Queens University, Kingston Ontario, Canada
 Andrew Lugg, Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, University of Ottawa, Canada
 Prof. Yosefa Loshitzky, SOAS, University of London, London, UK
 Marie-Josée Massicotte, Professeure agrégée – Associate Professor École d’études politiques – School of Political Studies, Faculté des sciences sociales, Université d’Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
 Nadia Abu-Zahra, DPhil (Oxon), Associate Professor | Professeure Agrégée, School of International Development and Global Studies | École de développement international et mondialisation, University of Ottawa | Université d’Ottawa
 Alan Shandro, Associate Professor of Political Science, Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
 Dr Randa Farah, University of Western Ontario, Anthropology Department, London, Ontario, Canada
 Len Findlay, Distinguished University Professor, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 Graeme MacQueen, Associate Professor (retired), McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
 Nahla Abdo (PhD.) Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
 Anthony James Hall, Professor of Globalization Studies, University of Lethbridge, Alberta Canada
 Omar M. Ramahi, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
 Peter Fitting, professor emeritus, French and Cinema Studies, University of Toronto (Canada)
 Heidi Grunebaum, Associate Professor, DST/NRF Flagship on Critical Thought in African Humanities,, Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape, SOUTH AFRICA
 Dr. Christo El Morr, Assistant Professor, York University, Canada
 Marty Roth, professor emeritus, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA, (resident of Canada)
 Bill Skidmore, Instructor, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
 Dr. Budd Hall, Professor, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
 Anaheed Al-Hardan, Arcapita Visiting Professor of Arab Studies, Middle East Institute, Columbia University, New York
 Denise Nadeau, Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Concordia University, Montreal
 Dr. Madalena Santos, Instructor, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton University, Canada
 Anaheed Al-Hardan, Arcapita Visiting Professor of Arab Studies, Middle East Institute, Columbia University, New York
 Kevin Moloney, Instructor, Dept of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics, York University, Toronto, Canada
 Dr. Edwin E. Daniel, FRSC, Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta
 Sana Ahmad, MA Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
 Dr Ronit Lentin, Retired Associate Professor of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin
 Raymond Deane, D. Mus (doctorate in musical composition) from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth
 Viktoria Metschl, Forschungsplattform „Mobile Kulturen und Gesellschaften“, Universität Wien
 Reena Mary George, Lektorin, Institut für Internationale Entwicklung, Universität Wien
 Hasiyatu Abubakari, PhD candidate and lecturer, Institute of African Studies, University of Vienna
 Mag. Martina Anissa Strommer, M.A., M.A., Global African Diaspora Studies Research Platform, University of Vienna
 Hector Grad, Department of Social Anthropology, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
 Patrick Sakdapolrak, Universität Wien, Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung
 Sumi Hasegawa, Retired Faculty Lecturer, McGill University, Montreal, Qc., Canada
 Dr. Lucy Morgan Edwards, London, England (Alumni Imperial College)
 Trish Salah, Associate Professor of Gender Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
 Dr. Alisha M.B. Heinemann, University of Vienna
 Dr. Niels Harrit, Associate Professor (retired), Dept. of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
 Patricia García-Leiva, Lecturer In Social Psychology, University of Malaga, Spain
 Yakov M Rabkin, Department of History, University of Montreal, Canada
 Nancy S. Jackson, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, Canada
 Bernie Hammond, PhD, Professor Emeritus ,Social Justice and Peace Studies, King’s University College, Western University, Canada
 Peter Eglin, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University Waterloo, Canada
 Professor Lila Abu-Lughod, Department of Anthropology/Institute for Research on Women,Gender and Sexuality, Columbia University, New York
 Michael Zvonek, Institut für Romanistik, Universität Wien

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