This project has been funded via the EUI-IHEID joint call 2023.
It is not uncommon that authoritarian regimes attempt to regulate the production of knowledge, or even prevent or censor it altogether. Scholars who therefore engage in research that is considered controversial for some reason can be subjected to direct and/or indirect threats that, in essence, aim at their silencing. These threats can range from the expulsion from the study or loss their academic positions to restrictions to movement and imprisonment. Many scholars around the world continue to struggle with persecution and unsafe conditions, even as others try to regain their academic footing in host countries with the help of humanitarian NGOs.
These curbs on academic scholarship due to state repression and/or living in conflict can undoubtedly have a tremendous impact on the personal wellbeing and safety of scholars. Simultaneously, it also has important consequences for the production of knowledge. Particular topics and in particular contexts tend to be under-researched, or, researched principally by non-native scholars and/or scholars who hold positions outside the particular country. This can be explained by the fact that, these characteristics can facilitate scholars to fleeing the studied contexts and provide them with necessary, survival resources. In combination, this situation further silences native scholars who are deeply invested in these topics, yet, remaining in the respective locations, are indirectly forced not to share their research.
The Scholars-at-Risk in the Social Sciences (SARs) project seeks to contribute to the understanding of how state repression affects scholarship in the social sciences. The project aims to develop a comprehensive framework for answering this question, to raise awareness of the issue within the broader scholarly circles, and to make these silenced voices more visible.
As such, the project will try to understand the specific challenges that scholars face when conducting a particular type of research and/or in particular contexts, and the strategies they use to mitigate these threats. On the other, to concretely capture the impact of state repression on social science scholarship.