[TYPES] ETAPS bars Russian researchers from attending

[Talia Ringer]

Yes, there was an academic boycott on South Africa. And the general
consensus in retrospect by scholars of South Africa is that it accomplished
nothing beyond sanctions except for "sending a message," and again at the
cost of isolating academics who happened to be from there. It was sharply
controversial at the time among those who were strongly anti-apartheid, and
rightly so.

Signaling is not worth breaking the ethics code and ruining careers.


On Wed, Mar 9, 2022, 5:55 AM Philip Wadler <wadler at inf.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

> [ The Types Forum, http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
> ]
>
> To add to Ricardo's examples, during Apartheid, there was an academic
> boycott of South Africa as part of a larger cultural boycott, similar to
> the cultural boycott of Russia we see beginning today. This included not
> accepting academic visitors affiliated with South Africa, even though many
> South African academics opposed Apartheid. Treating Russian institutions
> differently at this time can contribute to a cumulative effect. Failing to
> treat them differently sends the message that we don't care. Go well, -- P
>
>
> .   \ Philip Wadler, Professor of Theoretical Computer Science,
> .   /\ School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
> .  /  \ and Senior Research Fellow, IOHK
> .
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/__;!!IBzWLUs!ByhpRFSKZ3IGEazSYRk8ZiPNOU_tVRrh8Q_83QpOs_9HzrHFz55B0xkCfLYICuE4ayzyajgRdTs$
>
>
>
> On Tue, 8 Mar 2022 at 20:29, Ricardo Medel <ricardo.h.medel at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > This email was sent to you by someone outside the University.
> > You should only click on links or attachments if you are certain that the
> > email is genuine and the content is safe.
> >
> > [ The Types Forum,
> http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
> > ]
> >
> > German scientists were banned from conferences after the First World War.
> >
> > Chinese scientists (even those working/studying at the USA) were banned
> > from attending a NASA conference in 2013.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > El mar., 8 de marzo de 2022 17:25, Gabriel Scherer <
> > gabriel.scherer at gmail.com> escribió:
> >
> > > [ The Types Forum,
> > http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
> > > ]
> > >
> > > Do people know of any precedent of a conference forbidding people
> working
> > > in a certain country to attend?
> > >
> > > (Of course, on a regular basis we hold conferences in countries that
> make
> > > it difficult for some of our colleagues to attend. But this sounds very
> > > different from the conference itself forbidding certain researchers
> from
> > > attending on the basis of their country of employment.)
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, Mar 8, 2022 at 7:33 PM Neel Krishnaswami <
> > > neelakantan.krishnaswami at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > [ The Types Forum,
> > > http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
> > > > ]
> > > >
> > > > The ETAPS website (
> > > >
> > >
> >
> https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.etaps.org__;!!IBzWLUs!HUevd2N5Ms-2WYC1sMdH93ef4xxRy4BjZ9KD0I8SPwLGGpv-Rk7u_Emgl9qMMyLGK4ex90o0Cm0$
> > > > ) has the following text on its
> > > > front page:
> > > >
> > > > > The ETAPS association strongly condemns the war against Ukraine
> > > > > launched by President Putin. It is an intolerable breach of
> > > > > international law and a crime against humanity, unfolding in Europe
> > > > > now. Therefore, until further notice, ETAPS 2022 cannot accept
> > > > > registrations from affiliates of Russian research institutions or
> > > > > companies.
> > > >
> > > > While I'm as opposed to illegal wars of aggression as anyone else,
> this
> > > > feels like a serious mistake.
> > > >
> > > > There are many Russians (such as Jetbrains corporation) who have
> taken
> > > > the serious personal risk of publically opposing the war, and barring
> > > > them from our conferences due to their nationality feels wrong to me.
> > > >
> > > > It may well be that the financial sanctions regime means that
> > > > registration payments cannot be accepted, but that is quite different
> > > > from barring them personally.
> > > >
> > > > What do the rest of you think?
> > > >
> > > > Best,
> > > > Neel
> > > >
> > >
> >
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