SIEF statement on ongoing assaults on academic freedom in the US

The International Society for Ethnology and Folklore (SIEF) expresses its solidarity with colleagues, students, and friends, who represent our scholarly fields of Ethnology and Folklore at US academic institutions.

SIEF is deeply concerned with recent initiatives and executive orders by the US government aimed at cutting back funding for research and higher education, banning key words relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, and defunding scholars and academic programmes. It is troubling to see visas being revoked and colleagues being threatened with deportation from the US, simply for exercising their right to free speech.

SIEF promotes academic and personal freedoms and advocates for the critical role that scholarship can play in society. Important conversations in research and higher education must be carried out in a climate of collegiality and respect without fear of repercussion, even if they are sometimes not politically convenient.

Independent research and international collaborations must continue freely. We therefore call for an immediate halt to intimidation, de-funding, and the ongoing delegitimization of vast areas of research based on political ideologies and expediency.

SIEF is an international organization with a base of 1200+ members that facilitates and stimulates scholarly exchange in the community of Ethnology, Folklore, Cultural Anthropology, and adjoining fields.

On behalf of SIEF
Marie Sandberg, President, Sophie Elpers, Executive Vice-President, Thomas McKean, Vice-president