[Ura-list] Solidarity with Ukraine

Wed Mar 2 05:15:32 UTC 2022

Dear all,

just let me point out that I never claimed that "all Uralicists condemn" Putin's aggression against Ukraine. That was my – perhaps somewhat careless – rewording of the suggestion which I received from a colleague to whose e-mail I was reacting in the first place. The very reason why I started this discussion was that I'm NOT fully convinced of that and didn't like the idea of claiming it in the name of us all.

I believe Jeremy has an important point here: for numerous reasons, we cannot expect that all our colleagues in Russia are willing or able to openly criticize the current regime under the circumstances of actual war. Speaking on behalf of "all Uralicists" in this situation might be counter-productive, as it would merely contribute to the re-establishment of the iron curtain which is already dividing our field as well.

What we can do, in my view, is to join, endorse and disseminate the numerous petitions and statements already published throughout the world (also by the home institutions of many of us), and continue discussing how in this situation we could support all those who are suffering from the war and the dictatorial regime which started it. And, in particular, what we can do to ensure international communication and cooperation in our field of research.

Please feel free to react and to share your thoughts.

Best
Johanna

> MMJocelyne Fernandez <mmjocelynefern at gmail.com> kirjoitti 2.3.2022 kello 5.41:
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> Johanna's assertion that "all uralicists condemn" may be true, but it does not automatically imply that all of them want to express it. Which should not prevent us from adding our signatures to already existing initiatives. In France the protests against the Russian invasion are mixed up with our campaign for the President election (to happen in early April), i.e. mostly concentrated on denouncing the "extremist" (right and left) candidates who had shown some sympathy for Putin's government - or reproaching Macron his failure in trying to negotiate with Putin. Consequently, academic initiatives are rare, and I am ready to put my name on declarations from elsewhere.
> 
> Thank you Johanna for sending us all this information, and Jeremy for remembering us of the word "moot", which I have always found somewhat ambiguous.
> 
> MMJocelyne Fernandez
> 
> 
> Le 01/03/2022 à 23:46, Jeremy Bradley a écrit :
>> Dear all,
>> 
>> 1) I for one will absolutely put my name on any declaration there might be. My gut feeling right now is that none of us in the West will be wanting and getting visas to travel to Russia anyway as long as Putin lives as a free man, so previous concerns that being too openly outspoken might jeopardize my odds to get a visa are completely moot at this point.
>> 
>> 2) As regards Christopher's point, I think we should be careful with what we expect from our colleagues in Russia. Given the complete crackdown on any illusion of freedom of expression happening right now, for Russia-based colleagues to express opinions running counter to Kremlin narratives can be genuinely dangerous, and ultimately not worth the risk. Even before things escalated people suspected FSB agents everywhere (rightfully so, I might add), and it was hard to judge what pro-Kremlin positions I've heard were genuinely held, or expressed "just in case". We can just hope friends and colleagues are on the right side of things, and if not, that the lies will become untenable in the days to come. (And if it's an opt-in declaration, the point becomes moot.)
>> 
>> Best,
>> Jeremy
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 01/03/2022 23:16, Christopher Culver wrote:
>>> Johanna Laakso <johanna.laakso at univie.ac.at> writes:
>>>> the Uralicists of the world strictly condemn Putin’s aggression
>>> Do they? Obviously a letter would draw signatures from those of us
>>> outside Russia with access to free media. But at least in past
>>> conflicts, I have only heard our colleagues in Russia support whatever
>>> narrative is being presented on Russian state television. What good is a
>>> collective letter from Uralicists where more than half of the scholars
>>> in our field are unlikely to be represented?
>>> 
>>> Also, I imagine that some whose careers involve fieldwork would be
>>> worried about the harm this could do to their future prospects for being
>>> granted Russian visas.
>>> 
>>> Christopher Culver
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> ura-list at helsinki.fi - list for Uralic linguistics and related disciplines
>>> to (un)subscribe, send majordomo at helsinki.fi a message:
>>> (un)subscribe ura-list my.own at email.address
>>> Mirror archive: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ura-list/
>> 
> -- 
> MMJocelyne FERNANDEZ(-VEST) Professor Emerita CNRS & Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
> --
> ura-list at helsinki.fi <mailto:ura-list at helsinki.fi> - list for Uralic linguistics and related disciplines
> to (un)subscribe, send majordomo at helsinki.fi <mailto:majordomo at helsinki.fi> a message:
> (un)subscribe ura-list my.own at email.address <mailto:my.own at email.address>
> Mirror archive: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ura-list/ <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ura-list/>
--
Univ.Prof. Dr. Johanna Laakso
Universität Wien, Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft (EVSL)
Abteilung Finno-Ugristik
Campus AAKH Spitalgasse 2-4 Hof 7
A-1090 Wien
johanna.laakso at univie.ac.at • http://homepage.univie.ac.at/Johanna.Laakso/
Project ELDIA: http://www.eldia-project.org/ 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ura-list/attachments/20220302/61449ba1/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 1596 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ura-list/attachments/20220302/61449ba1/attachment.bin>