Public Channel

Following a protest meeting yesterday at the ICA conference, a number of ICA members drew up the following declaration, for ICA members and attendees of the conference to sign in their individual capacity.  A Committee on Public Statements was recently formed by ICA to consider formal requests for official statements. This declaration does not preclude members from making further, formal requests to that committee.

See the link to the Cape Town declaration here.

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Herman Wasserman
Professor of Journalism
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch
South Africa
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I know that the business-as-usual vibe at ICA annual conferences has been deeply painful for many members, including me. No better place than South Africa for a reset.

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Cherian George
Hong Kong Baptist University-School of Communication
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As a scholar who grew up during apartheid and then had to negotiate access to racist universities that were slow to transform, I support this statement. Large institutions like ICA should take their cue from 'post'-apartheid South Africa and exercise moral courage to make social justice a reality. South Africa's transition may be imperfect, but it is making a concerted effort to address racialised and gendered inequalities. If ICA is serious about engaging inequalities and decolonial approaches to media, communication and cultural studies, then it should support the call by these scholars.

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Adam Haupt
Professor
Film & Media Studies, University of Cape Town
Rondebosch
South Africa
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