My Student is a Sociologist, Not a Terrorist

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.