Dani Kranz and Stefan Liebig (2026)

In: Soziologie 55(3):318-326

Abstract:

Since October 7, 2023, intensifying an already ongoing dynamic, Israeli sociologists have faced escalating academic marginalization, exemplified by the International Sociological Association's 2025 suspension of the Israeli Sociological Society. Based on a survey of Israeli sociologists, this study examines how boycott dynamics are experienced at the individual level across publication, institutional, and collegial domains. Findings reveal that exclusion operates predominantly through covert, decentralized mechanisms—unexplained rejections, severed collaborations, and silent withdrawal—rather than explicit boycott decisions, producing a corrosive uncertainty likened to gaslighting. Early-career researchers face disproportionate harm due to weaker protective networks, while anticipatory self-censorship among all respondents further obscures the true scope of exclusion. The authors argue that the institutional/individual boycott distinction is analytically untenable, as institutions act only through individual scholars, and conclude that these cumulative dynamics constitute a significant threat to academic freedom.