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Respinding to Rob's post - no one disputes the worthiness of the IEHG project itself - which is why when I was initially asked to contribute, I jumped right in - however campaigns are about how to find leverage. In addition, as I said in a previous posting, if this is about the 'project in itself', there are many other more progressive ways of carrying this out, beyond simply chosing the 'right' conventional publisher. It's partly at least the old question of means and ends... But I am afraid your argument is far too 'all or nothing' - it is an argument against almost any kind of specific action short of total revolution - you can always say, 'yes, but what about... X, Y and Z' - you are going to logical extremes. Of course we are all engangled up in all kinds of relationships of power. In some of those (like citizenship) we have less choice than others - and I am sorry but trying to equate using state-funding with support for the policies of specific governments in democratic states is analytically suspect, and far from analagous with a commercial publishing decision. Chosing with which publisher we will publish or not publish is an area in which we have more leverage than others - remember, this isn't just Geographers, it's scholars from other disciplines, notably medicine too who have expressed concern with Elsevier's involvement in the trade of instruments of torture and death. And many geographers do take actions in other areas - you can't assume that we do not and that we are all so morally compromised that we should be paralysed by self-doubt... In this context, I do agree with you that targeting the IEHG alone is ethically suspect. I for one will not be submitting to or reviewing for, any Elsevier publication until the company divests itself of it's invovlement in the arms trade and I would urge other scholars to do the same). I am not sure if I will have much to do with them even after this, as I have other concerns, already outlined, to do with Elsevier's role in the collection and sale of private information. Specific actions can also be the start of bigger campaigns, and I think I've already expressed my view on publishing and ethics more generally - some of us already put a lot of time and effort into positive academic actions and new kinds of publishing initiatives beyond campaigns and boycotts.