[Ppnews] My Student is a Sociologist, Not a Terrorist

[Political Prisoner News]

My Student is a Sociologist, Not a Terrorist

Posted: 07 Dec 2009 04:00 AM PST
GreenIsTheNewRed.com

The following is a guest essay written by David Naguib Pellow, a 
Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and faculty 
advisor of Scott DeMuth:

On November 17, 2009, Scott DeMuth was jailed for contempt of court, 
since he refused to answer questions posed to him by a 
<http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/grand-jury-101-from-the-rockford-files/1504/>federal 
grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. They were interested in questioning 
him about his knowledge of an unsolved Animal Liberation Front action 
in 2004 at the University of Iowa. Scott is a University of Minnesota 
graduate student and Dakota language student. Scott took a principled 
stand against the grand jury and paid for it with a contempt charge 
and, two days later, a charge of conspiracy to commit "animal 
enterprise terrorism."

As a sociologist and Scott's faculty advisor at the University of 
Minnesota, I am concerned about this case for many reasons. Scott is 
being <http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/12/04/demuth>targeted 
because he is a scholar who does research on some of the most 
important social movement struggles in our society and because of his 
affiliations with many such activists. In his work, he has researched 
and/or interviewed numerous activists from Native American struggles 
for sovereignty and land, and environmental and animal liberation 
movements in the U.S. Unfortunately, Scott is 
<http://www.skidmore.edu/newsitems/features/chronicle081205.htm>only 
the most recent scholar facing state repression whose research 
focuses on peoples' movements. The U.S. boasts a long and shameful 
history of silencing and disciplining academics whose research and 
teaching emphasize the importance of collective efforts to effect 
radical social change. In recent years, professors studying various 
peoples' movements (including the ones Scott focuses on) have been 
censored, demoted, fired, and jailed here in the U.S. This is an 
issue of academic freedom and I believe we should support scholars 
like Scott because of the importance of this kind of work for 
rethinking our history and for reimagining what kind of futures we 
can create for ourselves.

My own research on movements for racial justice, labor rights, 
environmental justice, and animal and earth liberation suggests quite 
clearly that the state and corporations spare no expense and rarely 
hesitate to engage in surveillance, infiltration, and other efforts 
to neutralize the power and reach of these groups. As a publicly 
outspoken scholar and activist, Scott DeMuth is at the center of 
these dynamics and is quickly becoming a force for common ground 
among people across various movements, organizations, and 
universities who believe that government power should always be 
checked and that scholars, citizens, activists, and ordinary folks 
must enjoy basic rights and freedom from coercion and repression. 
Support Scott, protect academic freedom, and let's work to abolish 
the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act!

Sign a petition 
<http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freescottdemuth/>supporting Scott 
Demuth and academic freedom.

David Naguib Pellow is a Professor of Sociology at the University of 
Minnesota where he teaches courses on social movements, environmental 
justice, globalization, immigration, and race and ethnicity. His 
books include: The Treadmill of Production: Injustice and 
Unsustainability in the Global Economy, Resisting Global Toxics: 
Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice, and Garbage Wars.




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