Trump’s immigration ban triggers call for boycott of US conferences

Nearly 6000 academics from across the world have signed a pledge1 to boycott conferences in the US to protest against president Donald Trump’s executive order2 banning citizens of seven Muslim majority countries from entering the US for 90 days.

The boycotters said that the order “institutionalizes racism, and fosters an environment in which people racialized as Muslim are vulnerable to ongoing and intensifying acts of violence and hatred.” Those affected include students and academics who will no longer be able to travel to US conferences. The boycotters said, “We question the intellectual integrity of these spaces and the dialogues they are designed to encourage while Muslim colleagues are explicitly excluded from them.”

Nadine …