Tag Archives: Boycott

The Cost of Knowledge: Researchers taking a stand against Elsevier

The Cost of Knowledge: Researchers taking a stand against Elsevier

Academics have protested against Elsevier’s business practices for years with little effect. The main objections are these:

  1. They charge exorbitantly high prices for their journals.
  2. They sell journals in very large “bundles,” so libraries must buy a large set with many unwanted journals, or none at all. Elsevier thus makes huge profits by exploiting their essential titles, at the expense of other journals.
  3. They support measures such as SOPA, PIPA and the Research Works Act, that aim to restrict the free exchange of information.

Sign the petition here.

Norwegian University’s Board Rejects Academic Boycott of Israel

The Chronicle: Norwegian University’s Board Rejects Academic Boycott of Israel

The governing board of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology voted unanimously today to reject a proposed academic boycott of Israel. The proposal, which had drawn significant coverage in Israel, would have made the university the first Western higher-education institution to adopt an academic boycott of the Jewish state, but similar motions have repeatedly been offered at national faculty-union meetings in Britain. In a statement after today’s vote, the Norwegian board said that the university’s mission was “to stimulate the study of the causes of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and how it can be resolved. This means that the university is also dependent on being able to cooperate with Israeli academics, and hear their views on the conflict.”

Union calls for boycott of Rutgers president speech

AP: Union calls for boycott of Rutgers president speech

Rutgers President Richard McCormick speaks during Rutgers 243rd Anniversary Commencement in New Brunswick.
NEW BRUNSWICK — Union officials called for a boycott of Rutgers University President Richard McCormick’s annual address today.

The Union of Rutgers Administrators is at an impasse about its contract. The URA and two American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees locals represent 2,300 clerical, lab and maintenance workers.

Israeli Academic Criticized for ‘Los Angeles Times’ Op-Ed

Inside Higher Ed: Israeli Academic Criticized for ‘Los Angeles Times’ Op-Ed

An Israeli academic who is prominent in his country’s peace movement is under intense criticism for publishing an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times calling for a boycott of Israel. Neve Gordon, who teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University, writes that Israel has become an apartheid state and that outside pressure is the only way his country will ever allow the creation of a Palestinian state. While many Israelis, particularly in academe, share Gordon’s belief that Israel should not stand in the way of a Palestinian state, there is, not surprisingly, a wide consensus in Israel that boycotts are not appropriate. And in Israel academe, which has been a boycott target for some British and other academics, that opposition to a boycott movement is strong. Haaretz reported that after the article appeared, Israel’s consul-general in Los Angeles wrote to the president of Ben-Gurion, Rivka Carmi, to say he was hearing from donors to the university who were vowing to stop giving. Carmi denounced the essay, as did Israel’s education minister, who called it “repugnant and deplorable,” the newspaper reported. Amid the uproar, Gordon qualified his call for a boycott in a statement to YNet News, saying that he wanted a boycott to be “graded” and “sensitive,” starting with products made by Israeli settlements on the West Bank.

CUPE Ontario members back boycott of Israeli universities

CBC: CUPE Ontario members back boycott of Israeli universities

Delegates at a Canadian Union of Public Employees conference in Windsor, Ont., have voted in favour of a resolution to boycott Israeli universities to protest against Israel’s recently ended offensive in Gaza.

Nearly 200 Faculty Members at U.S. Colleges Endorse Academic Boycott of Israel

The Chronicle News Blog: Nearly 200 Faculty Members at U.S. Colleges Endorse Academic Boycott of Israel

A fledgling group calling itself the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel now lists 193 faculty members and several student groups at American colleges as endorsing its call for a boycott.