04 April 2023
Press release published by AStA of the University of Hamburg and Network for an Alternative Quest on 3 April, following the revoking of permission for a conference at the University of Hamburg following the intervention of the Hamburg domestic intelligence agency (Büro für Verfassungsschutz Hamburg).
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Image: Julian Denstorf, UHH/Denstorf
Press release: Attack on academic freedom and critical exchange at the University of Hamburg
The rooms for the conference "We Want Our World Back," which is scheduled for the Easter weekend (April 7–9) and expected to host 1,300 attendees, including prominent scientists, intellectuals, and activists such as John Holloway and María de Jesús Patricio Martínez, have been revoked for political reasons. The conference is part of the series "Challenging Capitalist Modernity", in which three other conferences have already taken place at the University of Hamburg in the last 10 years.
The President of the University, Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, has decided not to make the premises available after having received a non-public letter from the Büro für Verfassungsschutz Hamburg, the Hamburg state agency responsible for domestic intelligence, accusing the conference of political extremism. The General Students’ Committee (AStA) of the University of Hamburg, who are the organizers of the conference “We Want Our World Back” with the support of the Network for an Alternative Quest, condemn this political decision, which is obviously directed against academic freedom, the autonomy of the student body and the critical intercultural discourse at the university, as follows:
“This decision by the university administration is completely unjustified and a critical intrusion into the necessary exchange of ideas among students about perspectives on how our future world can be shaped. This interference represents an attack on academic freedom and contradicts everything the University of Hamburg, our university, stands for.”
Out of necessity, the AStA takes legal action against this decision by the university administration. Despite the administration‘s ongoing refusal to engage in talks with us, the AStA remains open to dialogue. Furthermore, we have published the declaration linked below, calling on the university to make its premises available to the conference. It has already been signed by hundreds of professors, academics and initiatives, with most of the signatures arriving within a few hours. The current list of signatories is available on the AStA’s and the Network for an Alternative Quest’s respective websites.
Furthermore, we will be introducing a resolution under participation of multiple status groups (students, professors etc.) at the next session of Hamburg University’s Academic Senate (Akademischer Senat). The resolution is directed against attempts by the Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz to influence the content of academic conferences and activities at the University of Hamburg.
In addition, the AStA is planning a series of critical seminars and talks on the history and role of the Verfassungsschutz, as there is an obvious need for awareness-raising with regard to the political function of the domestic intelligence service.
Regardless of all this, the conference will take place in Hamburg during the planned period. Further information will follow shortly.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us sozialebewegung [at] @asta.uni-hamburg.de and presse [at] networkaq.net.
With kind regards,
AStA of the University of Hamburg Network for an Alternative Quest
https://www.asta-uhh.de https://networkaq.net
3 April 2023
Wissenschaftler*innen:
Noam Chomsky, Laurate Professor of Linguistics and Professor Emeritus
Dr. Nazan Üstündag, Boğaziçi University
Dr. Mechthild Exo, Hochschule Emden/Leer
Prof. Norman Paech, Universität Hamburg
Dr. Iris Mendel, Universität Graz
Prof. Christine Löw
Prof. Jason W. Moore, Binghamton University
Michael Albert, Economist
Prof. Andrej Grubačić, Department Chair California Institute of Integral Studies
Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Professor Emeritus University of Coimbra
Prof Priyamvada Gopal, Postcolonial Studies, University of Cambridge
Dr Raul Zelik, University of Vienna
Raul Zibechi, Journalist and political theorist
Dr Hannes Jung, Science4Peace Forum
Dr. Michaela Tzankoff, wiss. Mitarbeiterin, Zentrum für Weiterbildung
Dr. Sören Deister, Akademischer Rat a.Z., Fakultät für Rechtswissenschaft, Mitglied im
Akademischen Senat der Universität Hamburg
Felix Bode, wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Rechtswissenschaft, Universität Hamburg
Florian Muhl, research assistant Erziehungswissenschaften, Universität Hamburg
Hannah Ofterdinger, research assistant, Law, Universität Hamburg
Maria Kopf, research assistent, Universität Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Ingrid Lohmann, Fakultät für Erziehungswissenschaft, Universität Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Udo Mayer, Fachbereich Sozialökonomie, Universität Hamburg
Steffen Haag, wiss. Mitarbeiter und Doktorand, Universität Hamburg
Achin Vanaik, Retd. Professor, University of DelhiAlex Demirovic, Apl. Prof. Dr., Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Alpa Shah, Professor of Anthropology, London School of Economics
Anna Rebrii, PhD student, Binghamton University
AP Anthony Dest, Lehman College (CUNY)
Ass. Prof. Bengi Akbulut, Concordia University
Ass. Prof. Targol Mesbah, CIIS
Byron Mauricio Acosta Rangel, Professor Universidad del Cauc, P.H. candidate Colombia
Claire Pentecost, Professor Emeritus, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Dipl.Psych. Michaela M. Müller
Dr Kuba Szreder, lecturer Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw
Dr Les Levidow, Senior Research Fellow, Open University, UK
Dr Natasha Tanna, University of York, UK
Dr. Aaron Vansintjan, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Vermont
Dr. Alexander Neupert-Doppler, Philosoph, Vertretungs-Professor an der Hochschule Düsseldorf
Dr. Alexandros Schismenos, Post-Doc, Aristotelian Universitiy of Thessaloniki
Dr. Ana Cecilia Dinerstein, University of Bath
Dr. Andreas Rentz, Zentrum für Holocaust-Studien des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte Münchnen
Dr. Ben Ó Ceallaigh, Aberystwyth University, Wales, Britain
Dr. Christa Wichterich, Soziologin
Dr. Federico Venturini, University of Udine, Italy
Dr. Francis O'Connor, Wageningen University
Dr. Friederike Habermann
Dr. Gilberto Lopez y Rivas, Professor investigador del INAH Morelos Mexico
Dr. Gregory Sholette, Social Practice, Queens College, City University of New York
Dr. Jeanette Ehrmann, Institut für Sozialwissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Dr. Kamuran Akin, Humboldt Universität, Berlin
Dr. Kateřina Vráblíková, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Dept. of Politics, Languages & International
Studies (PoLIS), University of Bath
Dr. Malav Kanuga, Postdoctoral Fellow, Media, Inequality and Change Center, University of
Pennsylvania
Dr. Max Oliver Schmidt, Evangelische Akademie zu BerlinDr. phil. Dieter Plehwe, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung GmbH
Dr. Silvia Marcos, Mexico
Dr. Stella Christou, Scuola Normale Superiore
Dr. Thore Prien, Seminar für Soziologie, Europauniversität Flensburg
Dr. Ulrike Flader, Universität Bremen
Dr.med.Dipl.Psych.Barbara Hofner
Dr*in Muriel Gonzâles Athenas, Innsbruck University, Austria
Elise Boyle Espinosa, PhD candidate, University of Aberdeen
Emmanuel Rozental, Pueblos en Camino adhere, Colombia
Erik Swyngedouw, Professor of Geography, The University of Manchester
Frederike Habermann, Commons-Institute
Gulay Kilicaslan, Assistant Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University
Harriet Friedman, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto
Hon.-Prof. Dr. Frieder Otto Wolf, Freie Universität Berlin
Jack McGinn, London School of Economics, Middle East Centre
Jason Prince, Concordia University
Jens Wissel, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
Jonathan Schmidt-Dominé, Mitarbeiter Institut für AVL, Universität Frankfurt
Julio Linares, Anthropology Department, London School of Economics
Kirsten Huckenbeck, Dozentin FB 4, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences / Redakteurin
Liisa L. North, Professor Emerita, York University
Lorenzo Velotti, PhD student, Scuola Normale Superiore
Luis Moreno-Caballud, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Pennsylvania
Mag. Dr. Andreas Exner, operative Leitung des Regional Center of Expertise Graz-Styria, Zentrum
für nachhaltige Gesellschaftstransformation der Universität Graz, Österreich
Mahmoud Patel, University of the Western Cape
Matthias Schmelzer, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena - Institute of Sociology
Michael Becker, Mitglied des Instituts für Sozialforschung Frankfurt am Main, Lehrbeauftragter an
der Hochschule Darmstadt
Michael Edwards, Honorary prof., University College London
Michael T. Taussig, Professor of Antropology, Columbia University, New YorkMilena Rodríguez Aza, Doctorante en el Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades - BUAP
(México) Colombiana
Nicholas S.M. Matheou, University of Edinburgh
Nina Tzankoff, Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin, Lehrstuhl für Öffentliches Recht und Sozialrecht
Olga Kopenkina, Independent curator, lecturer New York University, Fordham University.
Patrick Bond, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of Johannesburg
Prof Federico Demaria, Ecological Economics and Political Ecology, University of Barcelona, Spain
Prof Julie Chateauvert, Elisabeth-Bruyere School of Social Innovation ta Saint Paul University,
Canada
Prof Simon Tremblay-Pepin, Elisabeth-Bruyere School of Social Innovation at Saint Paul
University, Canada
Prof, Dr. Timm Kunstreich, em. Ev. Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit und Diakonie Hamburg
Prof. (Dr.) Anuradha Chenoy, former Dean of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi
Prof. Barry K. Gills, Global Development Studies, Helsinki University
Prof. Dr. Andrea Mühlebach, Universität Bremen
Prof. Dr. Aram Ziai, Chair of Development and Postcolonial Studies, University of Kassel
Prof. Dr. Bernd Belina, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M.
Prof. Dr. Dip.Ing. Kurt Bader, Universität Lüneburg
Prof. Dr. Dirk Martin, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. Götz Bachmann, Universität Bremen
Prof. Dr. Heinz-Jürgen Voß, Sexualwissenschaftler*in, Merseburg
Prof. Dr. Jens Wissel, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
Prof. Dr. Julika Bürgin, Hochschule Darmstadt
Prof. Dr. Oliver Bierhoff, Fachhochschule Bielefeld, Fachbereich Sozialwesen
Prof. Dr. Susanna Spindler, Soziale Arbeit & Migration, Hochschule Düsseldorf
Prof. Em. Kariane Westrheim, Uni Bergen / Chair of EUTCC
Prof. John Holloway, Autonomous University of Puebla, Mexico
Prof. Margara Millan, National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM
Prof. Nayanika Mathur Anthropology, University of Oxford
Prof. Norma Rantisi, Concordia UniversityProf. Raymond Craib, American History, Cornell University
Prof.Dr. Brigitte Young, Politikwissenschaftlerin, Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Professor Laurence Cox, National University of Ireland Maynooth
Sebastian Friedrich, Sozialwissenschaftler und Journalist
Sherry Millner, Professor in Film, College of Staten Island, City University of New York
Simon Sutterluetti, Universität Bonn, Institut für Medienwissenschaften
Sophia Wathne, PhD student, Scuola Normale Superiore
Sowmya Maheswaran, Institute for European Ethnology, HU Berlin & Berlin Institute for Empirical
Integration and Migration Research
Susana Draper, Professor of Comparative Literature, Princeton University
Thomas Wallgren, Professor of philosophy, University of Helsinki
Torsten Bewernitz, Redaktion Express und Hochschule Darmstadt.
Ulrich Brand, Politikwissenschaftler, Universität Wien
Vijay Kolinjivadi, Postdoctroal Fellow, University of Antwerp
Vilma Almendra, Pueblos en Camino Adhere Colombia
Walden Bello, PhD Sociology, State University of New York at Binghamton
William I Robinson, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara
Fachschaftsräte der Universität Hamburg:
FSR Lehramt Universität Hamburg
FSR Sozialökonomie Universität Hamburg
FSR Sozialwissenschaften Universität Hamburg
FSR Kriminologie Universität Hamburg
FSR Erziehungswissenschaft Universität Hamburg
AStAen:
Freier Zusammenschluss der Studierenden, FZS
AStA Uni Hannover
AStA Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
AStA Uni FrankfurtWeitere Unterstützende:
Adriana Guzman Arroyo, Feminismo Comunitario Antipatriarcal
Ahmet Yaman, speaker of the Kurdish community Switzerland
Akiko Ahrendt, Rundfunktanzorchester Ehrenfeld/ ZDF Magazin Royale
Alan W. Moore, author, activist, art historian
Alessandra Pomarico, Indepdent curator, New York / Lecce
Alexander Glasner-Hummel, social scientist, Mitglied des Landesverbandes DIE LINKE Baden-
Württemberg, Heidelberg
Ayreen Anastas, Artist, USA
Azar Mahmoudian, Independent Curator, Tehran
Azra Talat Sayeed, Chairperson for International Women's Alliance, IWA
Beate Schwartau, Alumnae Universität Hamburg
Begonia Santa-Cecilia, artist, Brooklyn
Bettina Gottschlich, "Familie für den Frieden"
Birgit Albrodt, "Familien für den Frieden"
Cansu Özdemir (LINKE, Hamburger Bürgerschaft
Carola Ensslen, MdHB, DIE LINKE
Carolina Achilles
Christiane Schneider, Vice President Hamburger Bürgerschaft (ret.)
Civan Akbulut, Mitglied im Integrationsrat Essen
Claudia Korol, Feminist writer and educator, Argentina
Connor Hayes, PhD student
Connor Murphy, Sinn Fein MLA
Cornelia Kerth, social scientist, Chair VVN-BdA
Daniel Brown, PhD student at the London School of Economics
Dario Azzellini, political scientist, author
David Morgan, journalist and writer
Deniz Celik, MdHB, DIE LINKE
Dipl.Ing. Horst D. GöllnitzDipl.Soz. Micha Hintz, Lehrbeauftragter an der Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, der
Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Ludwigshafen und der Europäischen Akademie der
Arbeit in der Universität Frankfurt
Dmitry Vilensky, artist, Chto Delat, St. Petersburg / Hamburg
Dörte Simon-Rihn
Doug Nicholls, GFTU General Secretary
Dr Derek Wall, writer
Dr Radha D’Souza, writer and social activist
Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, anthropologist
Dr. Alan Moore, Indepedent curator and Art Historian, Madrid
Dr. Carsten Krinn, AWO Esslingen
Dr. Cornelia Lange
Dr. Günter Rexilius, Priv.Doz., Dipl.Psych. Psychol. Psychotherapeut
Dr. Kerem Schamberger, Medico International
Dr. med. Michael Wilk, physician
Dr. Sarah Glynn, writer
Dr.med.Beppe Savary-Borioli, MP Forum Alternativo Ticino/Schweiz
Dr.med.Dipl.Psych. Barbara Hofner
Elena Aguayo
Elke Dangeleit, anthropologist, journalist, politician, DIE LINKE, district parliament Friedrichshain-
Kreuzberg von Berlin)
Emilio Fantin
Ernst Krefft, physician
Estella Schmid, writer and political activist
Esther Winkelmann, romanist
Françoise Vergès, writer, theorist, antiracist feminist activist, public educator, independent curator,
Paris
Gabriel Kuhn, author, Stockholm/Schweden
Gisela Rhein, 'Familien für den Frieden'
Giulia Gabrielli, artist, Whitney Museum ISP fellow, New York / Venice
Gloria Luz Rascón MartínezHeike Geisweid, Lawyer
Heike Rösch, Chair - Allenstein / Betreutes Wohnen
Heike Sudmann, MdHB, DIE LINKE
Hywel Williams MP, Plaid Cymru, Wales
Ilija Trojanow, author
Jakob Jakobsen, artist, Copenhagen
James Kelman, Booker Prize Winner novelist, Scottland
Janet Biehl, author and artist
Jesal Kapadia, artist, Brooklyn
John Hunt, journalist
John Kastan, The Jewish Board
Josef Mühlbauer MA, Autor, PhD-Student, Queeranarchist
Jutta Gernert
Katharina Günther, islamic studies
Kitty Kraus, artist, Berlin
Lord Hylton, House of Lords, UK
Lydia Förster, Verein Familien für den Frieden e.V., Darmstadt
Marco, Open Protest Network
Mark Mason, US Domestic and Foreign Policy Analyst
Marko Ulvila, politician, Finland
Marleen Rothaus, artist
Martha Rosler, artist, Brooklyn
Metin Kaya, DIE LINKE. Fraktion in der Hamburgischen Bürgerschaft Frieden, Migration, Sport,
Netzpolitik
Mizgin Ciftci, DIE LINKE
MPA, artist, Los Angeles
Naomi Anne Kubota, Die Linke, VVN-BdA, former research assistant Humboldt-Universität zu
Berlin
Natascha Sadr Haghighian, artist, Berlin
Nick Hildyard, policy advisor
Nika Dubrovsky, Artist, Germany and UKNikolay Oleynikov, artist, Chto Delat, St. Petersburg / Lecce
Norbert Trenkle, Krisis
Olga Kopenkina, Independent curator, lecturer New York University, Fordham University.
Pierre Joris, poet
Rahila Gupta, Chair - Southall Black Sister
Raúl Sánchez Cedillo, president of Fundacion De Los Comunes
Reem Shadid, curator, Director, Beirut Art Center, Beirut
Rene Gabri, Artist, USA
Rita Bilal, Familien für den Frieden
Ruth Stiasny-Seligmann
Sabu Kohso, writer, theorist, New York / Tokyo
Sasha Lilley, writer and journalist, USA
Seval Gümüs, activist, kurdish, Demokratischen kurdischen Gesellschaftszentrum e.V. Mitglied im
Forum der Kulturen Stuttgart
Sina Reisch, Ende Gelände
Stephan Jersch, MdHB, DIE LINKE
Stephanie Rose, MdHB, DIE LINKE
Stephen Smellie, Branch Secretary, UNISON South Lanarkshire
Suely Rolnik, psychoanalyst, cultural critic, and curator, Sao Paulo
Susann Schölzel
Ullrike Röding-Gilberg, internationalist
Uwe Gottschlich, "Familie für den Frieden"
Vahram Aghasyan, artist, Yerevan
Valentina Leduc Navarro, Regisseurin
Walter M. Garcia, teacher in Florida U.S
Xóchitl Leyva Chiapas
Initiativen und Gruppen:
Antifaschistische Aktion Lüneburg/Uelzen
Arbeitskreis Zivilklausel an der Uni KasselAutonomedia, Non-Profit Publisher, Brooklyn
Autonomen Ringvorlesung "Krieg & Frieden"
Cafe Knallhart
Café Libertad
Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC)
Feministas de Abya Yala
FG DeKolonial e.V. - Fachgesellschaft für rassismuskritische, postkoloniale und dekoloniale
Theorie und Praxis
Freund*innen der kurdischen Freiheitsbewegung Braunschweig
Gefangenen Infos
Hoenkeldruck
Initiative Demokratischer Konföderalismus
Institute of David Graeber
Kaffee Kollektiv la gota negra GbR
Kaffeekollektiv Aroma zapatista e.G.
Lützerath Lebt
MAF-DAD (Verein für Demokratie und Internationales Recht)
MAF-DAD e.V
Mittelbau Initiative Hamburg
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
PM Press
Quijote Kaffee GmbH
Schöner Leben Göttingen
Solidarity Economy Association
Students For Future Kassel
Tejiendo Redes y Rebeldías
Unrast Verlag
Ventana al Sur
Vereinigung Demokratischer Juristinnen und Juristen
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