(Un)Silencing Academia in Times of Epistemic Conflicts: Navigating Online Violence

This volume tackles the pressing issue of online violence against academics, considering the diverse forms that cyberbullying and harassment can take, as well as their likely targets. Offering both theorizations of the phenomenon and a series of empirical case studies, it maps out possible countermeasures for creating a more resilient academic environment.

The collection not only identifies the types of attacks and likely targets but also offers practical, evidence-based countermeasures to mitigate online violence. It fills a crucial gap in scholarship by exploring the intersections of online violence, gender, and minority experiences within the academic realm. Its unique contribution lies in its synthesis of empirical research, personal narratives, and practical recommendations, providing readers with a holistic understanding of the issue and moving beyond mere documentation to actively engage with the pressing question of how academia can foster a more inclusive and resilient environment.

It will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with interests in the sociology of work, scholarly careers, the challenges facing social researchers and issues of academic freedom.

Alberta Giorgi is Associate professor of Sociology of Cultural and Communication Processes at the University of Bergamo, and associate researcher of the Center for Social Studies (CES, Coimbra). Her work explores discursive boundaries and classifications, particularly at the intersection of politics, gender, religion, and science. She has recently co-edited with H. Eslen-Ziya Populism and Science in Europe (2022) and with J. Garraio and T. Toldy Religion, Gender and Populism in the Mediterranean (Routledge 2023).

Hande Eslen-Ziya is Professor of Sociology at the University of Stavanger and Honorary Research Associate at the Gender Justice, Health and Human Development, Durban University of Technology. Her research focuses on gender and politics, digital activism, anti-gender movements, and online violence targeting academics. She has published widely on masculinities, feminist activism, and digital cultures, including the co-edited volumes The Aesthetics of Global Protest: Visual Culture and Communication (2019) and Politics and Gender Identity in Turkey: Centralised Islam for Socio-Economic Control (Routledge, 2018).