[echo] intellectuals in trouble: Berlin, London, Buffalo

Tue Sep 18 18:14:39 CEST 2007

dear Friends,

Some time ago, in light of the volume of email most people receive, I  
decided not send more than one news message per month. Today I am  
breaking with that plan on this occasion because we seem to be  
entering a rising, second wave of post-911 cultural repression, one  
more closely targeting academics and academic institutions and not  
necessarily centered within the US. Below are several cases of note  
with information about each and what you might do to assist.

gregory sholette

------------------------------------------------------1  
Berlin-------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Albert Scharenberg is apparently being denied a political science  
position at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies   
at the Free University in Berlin, despite his being selected by  
peers. Why? Because Dr. Scharenberg is allegedly too old at 42!  
Spiegel Online uncovered another more likely reason: his membership  
on the advisory board of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation with ties to  
Germany's newly established "Left Party." http://www.spiegel.de/ 
unispiegel/jobundberuf/0,1518,503501,00.html

After reading this you might consider sending a short email letter of  
support to him at: <a.scharenberg at gmx.de>

Note also that this situation is joined by the case of Dr Andrej  
Holm,  a professor of sociology residing in Berlin who was recently  
arrested by the German Federal Police, flown by helicopter for  
interrogation, all  for his alleged " membership in a terrorist  
association." According to the Guardian of London, however, the  
actual reason for his detention was that in Dr. Holm's academic  
publications he uses "phrases and key words" that are also used by  
militant groups. An what is are these dangerous words? Examples  
include "inequality" and "gentrification."  Dr Holm is now home, but  
letters of support were instrumental in his release.  http:// 
www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/mikkelsen4.html
and   http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/comment/story/ 
0,,2153120,00.html

------------------------------------------------2  
London------------------------------------------------------
The second situation is that of Pluto Press in London. It has come  
under fire from the extreme right wing or the pro-Isreal lobby  
because of a book the press published by American author Joel Kovel  
entitled " Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in  
Israel/Palestine." Pluto now fears that its US distributor, the  
University of Michigan Press, may reconsider their distribution  
agreement even though they put the book back in their selection (see  
quick link: http://www.insidehighered.com/index.php/news/2007/09/12/ 
mich ).
                           (Disclaimer: I am under contract for a  
book with Pluto Press.)

A Statement from PLUTO PRESS:

Progressive London based publisher Pluto Press finds itself at the  
centre of a controversy concerning its ongoing US distribution with  
the University of Michigan Press and the wider issues of scholarship  
and free speech in American universities.

Following hectoring and complaints by the Michigan chapter of Stand  
With Us (a Zionist lobbying group) UMP recently withdrew Overcoming  
Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel / Palestine by  
American author Joel Kovel. The book is part of Pluto's highly  
respected Middle East Studies list and is a cogent and rigorous  
academic work by an author of considerable standing and repute.

Although UMP have since reinstated the book, Pluto is concerned by  
the statement released by the University of Michigan which indicates  
that as a result of this incident their contract with UMP is being  
reviewed next month: 'the Executive Board also arrived at the  
unanimous view that Pluto Press's decision to publish Overcoming  
Zionism brings into question the viability of UM Press's distribution  
agreement with Pluto Press.' Anne Beech, Managing Director of Pluto  
Press said 'the University of Michigan has cast aspersions on the  
probity of Pluto as a publisher and implied that our titles fail to  
comply with expected standards of scholarship. I find it worrying  -  
and telling - that the academic climate in the US is effectively  
trying to stamp out the radical tradition of scholarship with which  
Pluto is associated.'

Academics, Pluto authors - including Joel Kovel - and fellow  
publishers are rallying support for Pluto in the US. For further  
information and comments please contact Helen Griffiths at Pluto  
Press 0208 3746424 heleng at plutobooks.com"

Meanwhile, all this amplifies the transparent agenda of the neo- 
conservative movement: to accelerate the process of intimidating  
dissident intellectuals and individuals while cutting support for  
politically critical academic writing and teaching.  And these  
incidents occur in the wake of Professor Norman Finkelstein's forced  
retirement from De Paul University because of his critical remarks  
about Israel (http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl? 
sid=07/09/10/1518228), and  Columbia University/Barnard College  
ongoing efforts to refuse tenure to Professor of archeology Nadia Abu  
El-Haj because of her criticism that Israel uses questionable  
archeological work to defend its allegedly historic right to  
settlements on Palestinian land.  http://www.petitiononline.com/barnard/

  -----------------------------------------------------3  
USA-----------------------------------------------------
Finally, a familiar case to all of you, but one that is far from over  
and still in need of your support. Steve Kurtz and Robert Ferrell's  
political trial dressed up as a Federally prosecuted civil case (mail  
fraud) has not even been scheduled yet. While the art world and  
activists have helped Kurtz, a co-founder of the Critical Art  
Ensemble, and his former colleague Professor Ferrell, the CAE Defense  
Fund is approximately $100,000 short of being able to pay their  
defense attorneys through to the trial itself. A unique means of  
supporting both men is being proposed: to use yahoo's "good search"  
browser. Yahoo's GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates  
50 percent of its revenue - about a penny per search - to the  
charities its users designate. You just go ahead and research as  
usual on the internet, but every search you do is also money in the  
coffers of the defense fund. Go to http://www.goodsearch.com/ and  
indicate in the box that your charity is Hallwalls Contemporary Arts  
Center - then use the browser as your search tool.

And those of you in the NYC area please take time to see Lynn  
Hershman Leeson's film on the case at MoMA on October 1st, and at at  
CINEMA VILLAGE THEATERS from October 5th to the 13th.  For more on  
the CAE case go to http://www.caedefensefund.org

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY
MoMA.org The Museum of Modern Art
Lynn Hershman Leeson's Strange Culture October 1, 2007

A frightening and riveting hybrid documentary, Strange Culture  
confronts the government's inordinate and insensitive reaction to one  
artist in the practice of his work. In 2004, Steven Kurtz, a founding  
member of Critical Art Ensemble, a collective dedicated to the  
advancement of social justice through cultural activities, was  
working with his wife, Hope, on a piece about genetic food  
engineering for a MassMoCA exhibition. When Hope died suddenly of  
heart failure, Kurtz called 911. Police arrived, became suspicious of  
the Kurtzes' art, and called the FBI. The artist was detained as a  
suspected "bioterrorist" while federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted  
through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books,  
cat, and even his wife's body. Despite the fact that the materials in  
question were harmless bacteria, the government is still pursuing a  
trial. Since the ongoing nature of the case prevents Kurtz from  
discussing its details, Lynn Hershman Leeson has employed actors to  
dramatize parts of the story. One of America's best known and most  
prolific media artists, Hershman Leeson deftly interweaves news  
footage, reenactments, animation, interviews, and footage of Kurtz  
himself in this stranger-than-fiction narrative of the law gone wild.  
Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film.

For more information about Strange Culture, please contact Carla  
Sacks or Ross Clark at
Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000, carla at sacksco.com or ross at sacksco.com.

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php? 
id=6148&ref=calendar