"There are plenty of opportunities to discuss politics and matters not related to European sociology elsewhere on the internet" But isn't this list about sociologists concerned with Europe rather than 'European sociology" (whatever that is) ?. Ray Thomas, Faculty of Social Sciences, Open University, Milton Keynes, England From: Newsletter of the European Sociological Association (ESA) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael S Drake Sent: 09 January 2009 15:13 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: please discuss politics elsewhere Dear Rene, Thank you for your intervention. However, I feel it was misplaced. The attempt to raise a boycott was itself anti-sociological, because it would silence rather than open dialogue. I feel very strongly that in this crisis sociological understanding is important, when it is distanced from campaigns for the partisan promotion of ideological positions. I agree that some of the postings have been outside the terms of use of the list, but I hope you do not mean that European sociology should not reflect on and engage sociologically with politics and political issues. For instance, the last three postings have drawn attention to sources that are sociologically relevant to the current crisis which had been raised as an issue on this list by the email campaign for a boycott. Regards, Dr Michael S. Drake Lecturer and Undergraduate Programme Director for Sociology Department of Social Sciences University of Hull Cottingham Road Hull HU6 7RX Tel.: +44 (0)1482 465770 email: [log in to unmask] From: Newsletter of the European Sociological Association (ESA) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bekkers, R. (Rene) Sent: 09 January 2009 14:19 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: please discuss politics elsewhere Dear members, This is a message from one of the European-sociologist list managers. I'd like to remind all of you that the list is intended as a tool facilitating cooperation and discussion in European sociology. See http://www.europeansociology.org/index.php?option=com_content <http://www.europeansociology.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id= 17&Itemid=36> &task=view&id=17&Itemid=36 We've seen quite some postings in the past weeks discussing an academic boycott. As these messages concerned academic matters, I felt there was no need to close or moderate the list. But lately the messages sent to the list seem to get less and less connected to research and teaching in sociology. So this is a gentle reminder to all of you of the purpose of the list. There are plenty of opportunities to discuss politics and matters not related to European sociology elsewhere on the internet. Best regards, Rene Bekkers European-sociologist list manager