A critical note from female academics on cancel culture in the scientific and academic environment.

Introductory Note

We live in an increasingly undemocratic political system, where freedom of expression is being alarmingly curtailed, and where cancel culture is one demonstration of this lack of freedom, causing psychological and social harm to those who are canceled, as they are prevented from presenting their defense and are not even granted the presumption of innocence.

We live in a so-called democratic system, where the presumption of innocence is granted to the greatest criminals, but not to a public figure who has distinguished themselves in any field of activity, especially in academia, where space for dialogue should be one of its most fundamental characteristics. Unfortunately, it is also in this environment that some accusations of gratuitous cancellation have arisen, preventing the accused from having a space where they can refute the injustice they feel they are suffering.

"In July 2020, a group of 153 progressive public figures, including Noam Chomsky, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, and J.K. Rowling, published a letter in Harper's Magazine entitled 'A Letter on Justice and Open Debate,' arguing against 'an intolerance of opposing viewpoints, a fashion for public humiliation and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex political issues into blind moral certainty.'" The letter notes the effects of cancel culture in academia: “Editors are fired for publishing controversial pieces; books are withdrawn for alleged inauthenticity; journalists are prevented from writing about certain topics; professors are investigated for citing works of literature in class; a researcher is fired for circulating a peer-reviewed academic study; and leaders of organizations are expelled for what are sometimes just clumsy mistakes. Whatever the arguments surrounding each particular incident, the result has been a constant reduction in the limits of what can be said without threat of reprisal.” (1)

A few days ago, we became aware of a manifesto published in Brazil, signed by 23 female academics, mostly Brazilian, but also Portuguese and American, which is published below.

The Voyage of the Argonauts

NOTE:

1. in: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultura_do_cancelamento

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A critical note from female academics on cancel culture in the scientific and academic environment.

They sign:

• Adriana Bebiano, lecturer and researcher (University of Coimbra – UC)[i]
• Allene Carvalho Lage, lecturer and researcher (UFPB)[ii]
• Ana Cristina Joaquim, postdoctoral fellow (UNICAMP) and postdoctoral researcher (University of Porto)[iii]
• Bruna Muriel, lecturer and researcher (UFABC)[iv]
• Cláudia Cristina Ferreira Carvalho, lecturer and researcher (UFGD)[v]
• Cláudia Maisa Antunes Lins, teacher and researcher (UNEB)[vi]
• Claudia Rose Ribeiro da Silva, master's degree (FGV) and cultural manager of the Museu da Maré[vii]
• Daniele Silva Gonzalez, Master's degree (UNB) and lawyer[viii]
• Denilza da Silva Frade, doctoral candidate (CES-UC)[ix]
• Elziane Menezes Flores, PhD candidate (Colégio das Artes-UC)[x]
• Fátima Cristina da Silva, PhD candidate (CES-UC)[xi]
• Flora Strozenberg, lecturer, retired research associate and legal consultant (UNIRIO)[xii]
• Inês Barbosa de Oliveira, retired associate professor and researcher (UERJ)[xiii]
• Inesita Soares de Araújo, senior lecturer and researcher (FIOCRUZ)[xiv]
• Maria Tertuliana Brasil, doctoral candidate (FPCEUC-UC)[xv]
• Maria do Socorro da Silva Arantes, teacher and researcher (UFPI)[xvi]
• Maria de Lourdes Paz dos Santos Soares, doctoral candidate (FPCEUC-UC)[xvii]
• Marina Andrea von Harbach Ferenczy, PhD (USP and Università di Ferrara)[xviii]
• Mary N. Layoun, Professor Emerita and Researcher (University of Wisconsin, Madison)[xix]
• Marina Pereira de Almeida Mello, lecturer and researcher (UNIFESP)[xx]
• Suzeley Jorge, PhD candidate, Faculty of Letters (UC), professor (UFSC)[xxi]
• Vivian Urquidi, lecturer and researcher (USP)[xxii]
• Vania de Vasconcelos Gico, Professor and Researcher (UFRN)[xxiii]

This critical note arises from collective concern regarding the suspension of the event 'The Future of Democracy or the Democracy of the Future', which was to take place at the University of São Paulo and would have featured Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Although the official justification from the organizers was the speaker's inability to attend due to health reasons, the fact is that the event's suspension coincided with mobilizations against the participation of the Portuguese intellectual.

It should be noted that the Portuguese intellectual faced accusations in 2023 within the research institution where he worked. These accusations also targeted his long-time ally and intellectual partner, Maria Paula Meneses from Mozambique, and his former advisee and then fellow professor, Bruno Sena Martins from Cape Verde. Although they generated sensationalist media coverage and symbolic lynchings, the accusations never resulted in formal legal proceedings. Currently, the case continues in the Portuguese judicial system, beyond social media, because the professor has filed defamation lawsuits against the group of accusers.

Drafted and/or signed by twenty-three female academics and/or activists committed to social and epistemic justice, as well as to the creation of an academic environment of dialogue, this reflection does not intend to delve into the details of the case and its unfolding. Its objective is to invite researchers, professors, students, teaching and research centers, and funding agencies to reflect, calmly and thoroughly, on the risks of the consolidation, in the Brazilian academic environment, of the social phenomenon known as the "culture" or "politics" of cancellation.

It is worth highlighting that most of us, at some point in our academic careers, were at the University of Coimbra, especially at the Centre for Social Studies, and we were nourished by the intellectual and political project of the Epistemologies of the South, proposed, to a large extent, by Boaventura and Maria Paula Meneses.

Furthermore, we emphasize that we do not condone practices of gender-based violence, any form of oppression, individual or institutional harassment in universities or in any other domestic or professional and political environment. We maintain that complaints should be considered relevant and investigated and, when proven to be valid, should result in measures of justice and reparation that allow for the overcoming of violence. In particular, violence perpetrated by men against women, a product of a centuries-old, hierarchical, and patriarchal civilizational project.

Recognizing the structural roots of gender-based violence is an indispensable step, but it is insufficient if it is not accompanied by the collective construction of mechanisms for listening, support, and accountability that do not replicate the violence that is intended to be combated.

Cancel culture, still in the conceptual definition phase, involves the (systematic and massive) criticism and (arbitrary) censorship of people whose denounced speeches or conduct are considered reprehensible by a particular group. Taken to the extreme, these acts of compulsory banning, initially propagated through social media, directly impact the real lives of the targets, making other dimensions of existence unviable, such as work, sources of income, marital and family relationships, and freedom of movement, in addition to undermining or destroying the mental and physical health of the targets.

Brought into the academic environment and aimed at the intellectual and professional extermination of a thinker, cancel culture practices involve:

• a) the removal of names of cancelled authors from the bibliographic references of dissertations and theses, no matter how fundamental they may have been to the research presented therein;
• b) the revocation of invitations (to participate in panels, lectures and seminars) made to the canceled intellectuals and also to those people who disagree with this epistemic erasure;
• c) the rejection by editors and reviewers of academic journals of articles that present ideas and arguments based on the proposals of "forbidden" sources;
• d) the demand, on the part of the students, as well as some instances of power in academic affairs, that teachers remove certain works from the teaching syllabi of the subjects;
• e) the impossibility of "confessing" to having lived successful and abuse-free experiences in relationships (personal, academic or professional) established with the canceled people, as well as in spaces considered toxic;
• f) and finally, the institutional impact — as recently evidenced at USP — where organized groups within the university can prevent events from taking place, motivated by disagreement regarding the presence of a particular guest.

These and other cancellation actions have interconnected consequences – legal, ethical, and methodological – namely:

– The risk of copyright infringement, as stipulated in article 184 of the Brazilian Penal Code;

– The growing tolerance for disguised forms of plagiarism or false originality of ideas, something previously considered unacceptable, through the appropriation of concepts, reflections, and theoretical and methodological proposals without the author receiving due credit;

– The reliability and validity of scientific research and the results it presents. This is because one of the fundamental principles of the scientific method is that of replicability, which in turn depends on the transparency and veracity of the sources cited.

Another problem, of a political – and also psychoanalytic – nature, concerns silencing or self-censorship, which creates a collective scenario of cancellation due to fear of reprisals.

Everything indicates that this environment of silencing – marked by the high probability of dissenting voices becoming the new target of cancel culture practices – stems from the expansion, both within and outside the digital environment, of the biopolitical device of fear, to use Michel Foucault's concept. In this context, social networks function as arenas of summary judgment, where the logic of polarization amplifies the fear of ostracism and reduces the possibility of more complex and nuanced debates.

We are observing, with growing astonishment, how cancel culture is being legitimized even among intellectuals and activists committed to social struggles and the construction of a more egalitarian society. This contradiction reveals how, even in critical spaces, oppressive logics can be reproduced, which demands constant vigilance from us and a willingness to challenge entrenched practices.

It is important to highlight that, in this letter, we distinguish the fundamental difference between canceling and publicly criticizing—even though, in practice, the boundaries between the two may become blurred. Public criticism is an essential part of democratic debate: it aims to challenge ideas, positions, or behaviors based on arguments, allowing for rebuttal and clarification.

In contrast, cancel culture tends to operate as a form of summary delegitimization, where the focus shifts from the content of the debate to the invalidation of the person as a legitimate subject in the public or academic sphere. Criticism stimulates debate, while cancellation shuts it down; criticism seeks to transform, while cancellation aims to punish. Distinguishing between these two actions is crucial for preserving ethical responsibility in contemporary disputes over meaning.

It is at this point that it is necessary to state: authors and works cannot be erased, even though they must be subjected to legitimate criticism, which recognizes the historical and political density of a reference, situating it within its limits and contradictions. Questioning a reference is part of the process of constructing thought; eliminating it is to reject the very ground upon which the debate is built. The critical gesture, when authentic, does not close paths, but multiplies them—it does not eliminate voices, but strains their meanings, opening broader horizons of understanding and dispute.

We advocate for the urgent need to build mechanisms to confront the multiple forms of violence generated by the articulations of class, gender, and race, which, in the academic sphere, do not appear as isolated facts, but as articulated expressions of a structure that, for centuries, has denied legitimacy to certain bodies, knowledge, and territories.

In this sense, we understand the limitations of modern law which, created under a Western, capitalist, patriarchal, and colonial logic, often continues to reproduce privileges. Despite this, we cannot dispense with the counter-hegemonic use of available legal means. This use, over the last few decades, has resulted in numerous collective achievements.

The media, digital platforms, and social networks cannot serve as an alternative to the existing legal apparatus, however limited it may be. Overcoming its limitations requires institutional, educational, and collective actions that recognize the plurality of voices, experiences, and existences. In this way, we can continue moving towards a truly emancipatory justice system that confronts the roots of violence and promotes lasting change.

It is therefore urgent to impose limits on the advance of cancel culture practices – contrary to legislation, unethical, and anti-methodological – in the academic environment (and beyond). Cancel culture tramples on human rights, in addition to eroding scientific methodology and academic freedom. Furthermore, it weakens the production of knowledge and emotions, and prevents academia from being a space for dialogue, debate, and critical and sensitive education, committed to social transformation. We continue the fight for equality and justice for all people, particularly for women, and also in defense of spaces that respect plurality, the presumption of innocence, and the complexity of human relationships.

• [i] PhD in English Literature and Associate Professor with Habilitation at the University of Coimbra (UC). Researcher in Feminist Studies and President of the Scientific Council of the Centre for Social Studies (CES) at the University of Coimbra (UC) (between 2019 and 2022).
• [ii] PhD in Sociology from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC), Portugal. Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPB).
• [iii] PhD in Letters from the University of São Paulo (USP), post-doctoral fellow at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and USP, PhD candidate at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto.
• [iv] PhD from the Latin American Integration Program at the University of São Paulo (Prolam-USP). She completed her doctoral studies at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) at the University of Coimbra. Professor at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC).
• [v] PhD in Education from UFMT, with doctoral research at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra. Professor at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD).
• [vi] PhD in Post-Colonialisms and Global Citizenship from the Centre for Social Studies (CES), University of Coimbra. Professor at the State University of Bahia (UNEB).
• [vii] Master's degree from Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), professor, director of the Center for Studies and Solidarity Actions of Maré, manager of Casa de Cultura da Maré and coordinator of Museu da Maré (RJ).
• [viii] Master's degree in Human Rights and Citizenship from the University of Brasília (PPGDH/UnB), specialist in mediation, management and conflict resolution from the Higher School of Advocacy – ESA/OAB.
• [ix] Master's degree in Management and Public Policy from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso) and PhD candidate in Sociology (CES) at the University of Coimbra.
• [x] Master's degree in Feminist Studies and PhD candidate in Contemporary Art at the College of Arts, University of Coimbra.
• [xi] PhD candidate in the Territory, Risk and Public Policies Programme at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra.
• [xii] Doctor of Constitutional Law and Public Policy, with postdoctoral studies at UNESA. Retired Associate Research Professor at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) and legal consultant.
• [xiii] PhD in Education, post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra (2002) and retired Professor at UERJ, UERJ. President of the Brazilian Association of Curricula (ABdC).
• [xiv] PhD in Communication and Culture from the School of Communication at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, with postdoctoral studies at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) at the University of Coimbra. Senior professor and researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ).
• [xv] Master's degree in Education Sciences from the Lusófona University of Education Sciences and Technologies, Lisbon. PhD candidate at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences (FPCEUC) of the University of Coimbra.
• [xvi] Professor and researcher at the Federal University of Piauí (UFPI) and coordinator of the Center for Studies, Research and Extension in Decolonial Education and Science (NEPEECDES).
• [xvii] Master's degree in Sociology from the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation (UFPE). PhD candidate at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (FPCEUC) of the University of Coimbra.
• [xviii] Doctor of Science from USP and PhD from the Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, Italy. She completed her doctoral studies at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra.
• [xix] Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley. Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Member of the External Advisory Board of CES until January 2025.
• [xx] PhD in Anthropology from USP, with postdoctoral studies in Postcolonialism and Global Citizenship at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra. Professor at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP).
• [xxi] PhD candidate at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Coimbra (FLUC). Master's degree in Food Science from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) and professor (UFSC).
• [xxii] PhD in Sociology from the University of São Paulo, with postdoctoral studies at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra. Professor and researcher at the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities of the University of São Paulo.
• [xxiii] PhD in Anthropology from PUC/SP, with postdoctoral studies at Universidade Nova de Lisboa. International Relations Advisor for PPGCS-UFRN / UNI-RN from 2015 to 2023, maintaining strong exchange and agreements between CES and the Universities.