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Universities and activism since the genocide in Gaza - Call for papers

Since October 7th, 2023 universities in the West have emerged as a key site of struggle over Palestine. Both students and staff have engaged in near unprecedented mobilisation and political engagement, involving new associations and new alliances as well as long-standing actors. This activism has taken many forms, from student occupations and encampments to open letters and expressions of solidarity from professional associations and trade unions. It has also been on different scales, from efforts to change national and supranational policy to in-campus efforts to affect university policy and to pressure administrations to take actions against Israel over its genocide in Gaza.

The effects of these actions have been mixed, to say the least. In places like the US and Germany they have been met with Zionist backlash and state repression, in combination with university and state repression. Elsewhere they have been more successful, with universities across Europe divesting from Israel and restricting or cancelling ties with Israeli institutions, in line with the demands to do so from Palestinian civil society organisations (e.g., Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)). However, these successes often only come about following sustained campaigns from students and staff.

How then do we understand this activism from students and staff; in particular how do we understand its relationship with the university? Those involved have generally assessed it in terms of a political scorecard – battles fought, victories won, losses incurred, and lessons learnt. This information is what Eyerman and Jamison (1991) term the technological and organisation dimensions of knowledge that social movements produce. While important, there are also the ideological ripples it produces – the worldviews and historical meanings produced by movements.

In this frame we are particularly interested in papers or panels on how this political contention relates to the role of the university in society and how staff and students play a part in shaping outcomes. A conservative reading sees Palestine solidarity movements on campuses as an external intrusion on the university’s role to produce impartial knowledge and hold space for differing ideas without adjudicating between them. In like manner, boycotting or restricting links with Israel is seen as an affront to the principle of academic freedom to associate freely. Some critical understandings of the university would hold a similar ‘ivory tower’ understanding of academia’s relationship with political activism, albeit in a less positive register. In this reading, Palestine solidarity activism disrupts the neoliberal university’s mission to uphold and reproduce capitalist society and the ideas and technologies required for imperialist control. Yet there is a third reading that sees this activism as an expression of academic freedom and as feeding into the role of universities as arenas in which power/knowledge – in forms non-reducible to either the market or pure abstraction – is contested.

This conference seeks to explore the effects and meaning of this Palestine solidarity activism in universities both within academia and broader society. The organisers seek to do so, both as academics seeking to understand this social phenomenon and as university staff and academic researchers tracing how our workplaces, professional associations, trade unions and campus communities have reacted to Palestine solidarity on campuses. We are also Palestine solidarity activists, involved in campus activism and seeking to confront one of the basic questions any social movement practitioners ask themselves – what else can we do and how do we do it? Thus, we aim to create space for academic work and strategic reflection on the role of the university in Palestine solidarity movements, not only as a site of production of knowledge but also as a workplace, and how universities interact with civil society, but also to have conversations and provide feedback on interdisciplinary academic literature under the broad umbrella of critical university studies.

Call for paper/panel/workshop proposal:

The conference seeks to examine the wave of pro-Palestine solidarity activism across college campuses, taking both classically academic and insider standpoint positions on the issue. We are inviting proposals for papers, panels, and workshops by academics at all levels as well as university staff involved in Palestine solidarity. The conference will be interdisciplinary, situated in the burgeoning research on critical university studies between the social sciences, law, and humanities and will include participants from Ireland and abroad.

- Effects and outcomes of campus activism on Palestine

- The role of and relationships between unions, student unions, professional bodies and advocacy in campus activism

- The responses to this activism by university administrators and outside actors – e.g. donors and political groups

- The effects of disciplinary measures on this activism

- The relation between Palestine activism and academic freedom

Academics, professional staff and students as political actors and advocates

- The university as a site for political struggle

- The university’s role in society

- Palestine solidarity movement building within and beyond campuses

- The relationship between Palestine solidarity and other dimensions of campus politics

We invite abstracts on any of the themes above or addressing related themes you feel deserve consideration. Submissions for papers or panels are due no later than midnight January 02, 2026 in your time-zone.

Conference Details

Detailed information will be made available in due course, but this will be a two-day conference on June 08-09, 2026 at Trinity College Dublin. Applicants can expect a response in early February, 2026, and a full conference schedule will be released in late March 2026.

The conference is hosted by Academics for Palestine, Ireland and the MPhil in Race, Ethnicity and Conflict in the Department of Sociology, Trinity College Dublin. Trinity College was an early and important supporter of the academic boycott of Apartheid South Africa, and last year cut ties with Israeli institutions (including academic, business, and research partnerships). The conference is planned as an in-person event, however, some exceptions may be made for virtual presentations when needed (e.g., challenges in travel/visas). If you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected].

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL USING THE FORM BELOW:

By submitting this form, you consent to the collection and processing of your personal data in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Trinity College Dublin Data Protection Policy for the purpose of managing your registration and participation in this conference. Your data will be stored securely for use by the event organisers and will not be shared with third parties.

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Please note, if you check 'Yes' to the question above, you still need to provide your name and contact information in this form below. However, we will exclude your name from any published conference material to facilitate anonymous submissions.

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Title of your paper/panel/workshop: (a brief title for your submission to be used in all conference materials)

Authors (please include your name(s), email addresses, and academic affiliation(s))

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Will you be able to attend in person in Dublin June 08-09, 2026?

OTHER: If you will not be able to attend in person, please provide us with a short explanation why so that we can try to facilitate your request if possible.

Please specify if your submission is for an individual presentation (1-2 presenters discussing one common topic; approximately 15 minutes each), panel (3-5 presenters each discussing their topic under a common title and idea; approximately 1 hour total), workshop (1-3 presenters facilitating a practical, skills based session; approximately 1.5 hours)

Please specify if your submission is for an individual presentation (1-2 presenters discussing one common topic; approximately 15 minutes each), panel (3-5 presenters each discussing their topic under a common title and idea; approximately 1 hour total), workshop (1-3 presenters facilitating a practical, skills based session; approximately 1.5 hours)

Individual presentation

Panel proposal

Workshop proposal