Reviderat brev från SSF styrelse till ISA

SSF styrelse hade den 16 december ett extra styrelseemöte. Där beslutade styrelsen att revidera brevet till ISAs president, enligt nedan. Det reviderade brevet har även skickats till ISAs president.

Reviderat brev från SSF styrelse:

Dear Geoffrey Players and Bandana Purkhayasta,

The board of the Swedish Sociological Association recognizes the devastating consequences for Palestinian civilians of the war in Gaza, as well as the tragic terrorist attack on civilians in Israel on October 7, 2023. While such events inevitably call for strong reactions worldwide, we want to emphasize that a scientific association is not primarily a political actor and should not be expected to issue condemnations in international conflicts. The role of a sociological association is to safeguard conditions for independent, critical, and empirically grounded sociological research.

When the International Sociological Association decided in June 2025 to temporarily suspend the Israeli Sociological Association, this decision risked undermining precisely those conditions. Like the German and Austrian Sociological Associations, we believe that sociology as a discipline plays an essential role in fostering societal self-reflection by analysing power relations, inequality, exclusion, inclusion, integration, and social change. Protecting such research is vital to maintaining the open and democratic debate that societies depend upon.

Suspending academic associations on a national basis isolates colleagues who are working under difficult circumstances and weakens the collective capacity of sociology worldwide to contribute to knowledge and critical understanding. For this reason, the board of the Swedish Sociological Association strongly disagrees with the suspension of the Israeli Sociological Association and instead calls for the ISA to serve as a platform for uniting and defending sociology and sociologists across the world.

With best regards,

Åsa Wettergren, Chair, The Swedish Sociological Association

Rikard Danell, Vice chair, The Swedish Sociological Association