Digital vulnerabilities and online harassment of academics, consequences, and coping strategies. An exploratory analysis

Abstract

Academic research is currently undergoing a wave of contestation, ranging from violent attacks and life-threatening situations to public undermining of their research and online threats and harassment. A variety of actors engage in hostile behaviors, including ordinary people as well as state institutions, and address scholars working in diverse disciplines and on diverse topics, such as climate change, vaccination, gender studies, colonialism and Islam studies. Recent research shows that female scholars, sexual and racialized minorities, and precarious researchers are the most likely target of online attacks. This contribution presents the results of a research project on academics facing online harassment in times of populism, drawing on data from an original survey to explore the ambivalences of academics’ public engagement, the public role of universities, and, more broadly, the impact of current attacks on academic knowledge.