Hi all- American living in Canada here - I echo Beth and Josh. I used to live in Mississippi, Alabama, and Utah-- all states that have been targeted for travel boycotts at various points in the last several years. I've long been on the record against these types of travel boycotts as a result of having lived in these places and for the reasons they have outlined in their messages. In short, rescinding travel to the US does absolutely nothing to support resistance movements here and is mostly going to be harmful to local residents. The next three meetings are in Ohio, Georgia, and Louisiana, respectively, so this problem is not going away in terms of annual meeting siting.
Now, all of this to say, concerns about discrimination or policies that may put members of our scholarship community in harms way are absolutely something that I hope the program team and sections are discussing. In response to these concerns, I think the best use of our collective effort is to devote time to organizing proactive measures to support members attending these conferences and also to figuring out how to assist or support local efforts to push back against Trump administration policies at our sites. For example, I've been part of several conferences outside of the political science discipline who have sessions and programming integrated into the schedule that allows participants to better understand the local context and social movements in those places. I will also add that I think this issue adds additional urgency and weight to the ongoing discussion about building out opportunities for support and development that do not necessitate travel. Especially given the subject matter of this community and the carbon impact of flying, the challenges with visas, and the prohibitive cost, we ought to consider the Trump administration issue as a compounding reason for getting serious on how else we can expand our networks of support. I know the ESS outreach committee mentorship program has been highly successful in this regard (we actually had more mentors than mentees sign up last year). I'd love to see some energy being put towards innovating efforts like this if folks are concerned about narrowing access or ethical concerns related to ISA convention siting over the next few years. On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 8:57 AM Gellers, Joshua <josh.gell...@unf.edu> wrote: > Greetings All- > > > > I just wanted to weigh in and express support for Beth’s perspective. > Imagine if doctors refused to see patients in order to “send a message” > about their displeasure with the current regime. If people opt-out of our > conferences in order to send such a signal, it 1) deprives scholars in > vulnerable positions the opportunity to network and share their scholarship > with others, 2) demonstrates the effectiveness of the regime in terms of > chilling the activities of academics, and 3) assumes that the regime > actually cares about the effects of popular resistance. In my opinion, the > brave and right thing to do is to keep calm and carry on. No one can break > our spirit unless we let them. > > > > Best, > > > > Josh > > > > *From: *gep-ed@googlegroups.com <gep-ed@googlegroups.com> on behalf of > Elizabeth Chalecki <elizabeth.chale...@gmail.com> > *Date: *Monday, January 27, 2025 at 9:48 AM > *To: *gep-ed@googlegroups.com <gep-ed@googlegroups.com> > *Subject: *Re: [gep-ed] ISA 2025 > > Raul, Kathy, and other non-US scholars- > > If you don't come to events like ISA, even if they are in the United > States, that plays right into the hands of those who say "America for > Americans" (whatever that nonsense might mean)! ISA has always been a > place to meet scholars from all over the world, listen to their work, and > make connections that keep academia and other internationally-focused > professions strong and relevant. if you self-censor your presence here in > fear of what *might* happen, we're all the weaker for it. If we are > going to turn around this current tide of U.S. nativism and > anti-intellectualism, we need the participation of all scholars who care > about the issues ISA stands for. We need to make sure our community stays > robust and diverse, because the Administration certainly isn't going to do > it. > > They can't push us around, there are too many of us. Don't let them make > you afraid! March in like you belong here, because you do. > > -Beth > > ______________________________________________ > > Elizabeth L. Chalecki, PhD > Associate Professor, International Relations > Department of Political Science > University of Nebraska Omaha > 6001 Dodge St., ASH 275 > Omaha, NE 68182 > echale...@unomaha.edu > Fulbright Canada Research Chair 2022 > https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/elizabeth-l-chalecki > > > > On 1/27/2025 6:45 AM, 'Raul Pacheco-Vega' via gep-ed wrote: > > Hi Kathy and all, > > > > This did occur to me last night, as I witnessed everything that has been > going on in the US on BlueSky. I do have a US visa and therefore I should > be able to enter the US without a hitch, and I've already paid for > everything in advance (flights, hotels, registration, etc.) For me, it's a > pretty big sunk cost even and I will be going to ISA. > > > > Although I already had considered boycotting any and all activities in the > US for the time being, I do have two more workshops and conferences in the > US and thus can't really get out of US-based conferences, workshops and > keynote talks that easily. But I do expect that over the next 4 years I may > not be returning even if I am invited and can come and go as I please. > Because we should be expecting the unexpected, I think. > > > > Best, > > R. > > > > On Sun, Jan 26, 2025 at 10:39 PM Harrison, Kathryn < > kathryn.harri...@ubc.ca> wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > I am curious how other non-US ISA members are thinking about attending ISA > in Chicago in light of all that Trump is doing and threatening already. I > appreciate that there are many non-American scholars for whom ISA an > important opportunity to share their perspectives, though I can’t imagine > some of them either can’t or won’t be attending this year. > > > > For me, a business-as-usual trip to the US feels like it’s normalizing > Trump’s actions. > > > > I genuinely welcome others’ thoughts. > > > > Kathryn > > > > > > Kathryn Harrison > > McLean Family Chair in Canadian Studies > > Professor of Political Science > > University of British Columbia > > Vancouver, BC > > Canada V6T 1Z1 > > Tel: 604 822-4922 > > > > I work on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territories of the Musqueam, > Squamish, and Tsleil Waututh peoples. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/83007040-1E80-4044-95FC-6424FECFA8BC%40ubc.ca > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/83007040-1E80-4044-95FC-6424FECFA8BC%40ubc.ca?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAL4ttV%3DR5fLCZNHWTDPeP3khgP%2Bu__6drGhbRbEwXun9BQ0P3A%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CAL4ttV%3DR5fLCZNHWTDPeP3khgP%2Bu__6drGhbRbEwXun9BQ0P3A%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/454b3945-9263-49e3-843e-0eab6c7c0490%40gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/454b3945-9263-49e3-843e-0eab6c7c0490%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "gep-ed" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/SN7PR19MB6853B672E30178ADD4310EB88BEC2%40SN7PR19MB6853.namprd19.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/SN7PR19MB6853B672E30178ADD4310EB88BEC2%40SN7PR19MB6853.namprd19.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Devon Cantwell-Chavez PhD Candidate University of Ottawa Department of Political Studies Pronouns: she, her, hers cell: 785-817-0524 devon.cantw...@uottawa.ca website: www.devoncantwell.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. 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