"Terrorism" & Academia Follow-Up: 67 Academics Call for Reinstatement of University of Nottingham Lecturer
Last Thursday we wrote on the ongoing case of "terrorism" and academic freedom at Britain's University of Nottingham. Almost three years after an Algerian-born administrator was imprisoned for five months and threatened with deportation and a postgraduate student was detained for six days --- all for putting a copy of a publicly-available Al Qa'ead training manual on a computer --- the supervisor of the postgraduate student, Dr Rod Thornton, has been suspended by Nottingham. Thornton was punished after he submitted an essay to a British academic conference detailing and critquing the University's conduct in the case.
Now 67 academics have signed an open letter, first published in The Guardian of London, calling for the reinstatement of Thornton and an enquiry into the University's actions.
We write as academics deeply concerned by the suspension of Dr Rod Thornton, a lecturer in counter-terrorism in the school of politics and international relations at the University of Nottingham (Report, 4 May). We understand that Dr Thornton's suspension is the result of a whistle-blowing investigative research paper that was presented at the annual British International Studies Association conference and subsequently published on its website. In his research, Dr Thornton carefully details what appear to be examples of serious misconduct from senior university management over the arrest of two university members (The "Nottingham Two") under the Terrorism Act 2000 in May 2008.
The two men were never charged with a terrorism-related offence, and their arrests were perceived as being indicative of a growing tide of Islamophobia. Dr Thornton's research paper provides apparent confirmation, notably through internal communications obtained via the Freedom of Information and Data Protection Acts, that university management and senior academics colluded to paint the two men in a negative light despite no evidence of wrongdoing. The claims he makes are very serious and should be subjected to a full and proper inquiry: they cannot be ignored.
We call for the immediate reinstatement of Dr Rod Thornton and call on the University of Nottingham to openly and thoroughly examine the claims made in his research. We also request that an independent inquiry be conducted into the university's actions on this matter.
Prof Noam Chomsky MIT br>
Prof Paul Gilroy LSE br>
Dr Karma Nabulsi Oxford br>
Prof Charles Tripp SOAS br>
Prof Neera Chandhoke University of Delhi br>
Prof Michael Burawoy University of California, Berkeley br>
Prof Patrick Bond University of KwaZulu-Natal br>
Prof David McNally York University (Toronto) br>
Prof Bill Bowring University of Essex br>
Prof John Harriss Simon Fraser University (Canada) br>
Prof Neil Smith City University, New York br>
Dr Norman Finkelstein br>
Prof Joyce Canaan Birmingham City University br>
Prof Richard Keeble University of Lincoln br>
Prof Scott Lucas University of Birmingham br>
Prof David Miller University of Strathclyde br>
Prof Ian Parker Manchester Metropolitan University br>
Prof Scott Poynting Manchester Metropolitan University br>
Prof Lucy Suchman University of Lancaster br>
Dr Bernard Sufrin Oxford (Worcester College) br>
Dr Laleh Khalili SOAS br>
Dr Rahul Rao SOAS br>
Dr Tufyal Choudhury University of Durham br>
Dr Polly Pallister-Wilkins SOAS br>
Dr Mark Laffey SOAS br>
Dr Corinna Mullin SOAS br>
Dr Arshin Adib-Moghaddam SOAS br>
Dr Kate Tunstall Oxford (Worcester College) br>
Dr Alf Nilsen University of Bergen br>
Dr Sudhir Hazareesingh Oxford (Balliol College) br>
Dr Eddie Yuen San Francisco Art Institute br>
Dr Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed University of Sussex br>
Dr Tim Jacoby University of Manchester br>
Dr Laurence Cox National University of Ireland br>
Dr Jairus Banaji SOAS br>
Dr Ole Johnny Olsen University of Bergen br>
Dr Bhabani Sshankar Nayak Glasgow Caledonian University br>
Dr Rupert Read University of East Anglia br>
Dr Subir Sinha SOAS br>
Dr Neil Davidson University of Strathclyde br>
Dr Arun Kundnani London Metropolitan University br>
Dr Rashmi Varma University of Warwick br>
Dr Michael Edwards UCL br>
Dr Timothy Jones University of Glamorgan br>
Dr Jessie Blackbourn University of Salford br>
Dr Steve Hurst Manchester Metropolitan University br>
Dr Steve Hewitt University of Birmingham br>
Dr Nisha Kapoor Manchester Metropolitan University br>
Dr Jodie Chapell University of Lancaster br>
Dr Jack Nye Open University br>
Dr James Brown University of Cambridge br>
Dr Nicola Pratt University of Warwick br>
Dr Carlos Frade University of Salford br>
Dr Sherifa D Zuhur Strategic Studies Institute, United States Army War College br>
Dr Alex Dennis University of Salford br>
Dr William Dinan University of Strathclyde br>
Dr Piers Robinson University of Manchester br>
Dr Peter Bratsis University of Salford br>
Dr Helen Dexter University of Manchester br>
Dr Peter Waterman International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague br>
Dr Aggie Hirst Liverpool Hope University br>
Dr Max Farrar Leeds Metropolitan University br>
Dr Elena Vezzadini École des hautes études en Sciences Sociales br>
Dr Giselle Vincett University of Edinburgh br>
Dr Betty Hagglund University of Birmingham br>
Dr Gary Fooks University of Bath br>
Dr Mahmood Delkhasteh
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