The DCSU was formed in 2010 in response to the presumed failures of the British and American invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. It is known by the MOD as the “centre of excellence for cultural capability” with a “unique” and “central contribution” to its military operations. As of 2016, the DCSU has been served by at least 64 ‘Cultural Advisors’ (and 26 reserves) in at least 22 countries.

A similar unit established by the US Military, the “Human Terrain System” (HTS), was met with widespread condemnation by the American Anthropologist Association for violating the ethical imperative to “do no harm to those they study.” The Network of Concerned Anthropologists labelled the HTS as a “gentler form of domination” in the “military’s mission to occupy and destroy opposition to US goals and objectives.” DOM contends that, despite its comparatively limited public scrutiny, the DCSU ultimately serves the same function as HTS, and the role of academic institutions such as SOAS in facilitating and profiting from its growth demands similar condemnation. *They call for SOAS to cut its ties to the MOD immediately and for students and workers to unite in struggle for an education system where we can rediscover, imagine and build worlds of life and liberation, not war and destruction.*

In a report to be distributed to graduating students of 2019 on July 24-26 by ‘Crisis SOAS’ (a collective of campaigns, societies and individuals across the institution), students are highlighting not only the expanding ties between academia and militarism, but also the “continuation of SOAS’ colonial and imperial mission rather than any professed rupture.”

The report addresses the institution’s sexism, racism, and anti-blackness, as well as a complaints procedure that protects perpetrators of harassment and abuse, exposed by student collectives Art and the African Mind, and Account For This SOAS. Other issues discussed are the employment of lecturer Gunnar Beck, who won election to the European Parliament for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland; the ten-year anniversary of the deportation of nine SOAS cleaners organising for justice and dignity to end outsourcing; cuts to the library and specialist departments risking over 100 jobs, and the racialised and gendered impacts of casualised labour; and the neo-colonial laundering of “potentially looted antiquities” revealed by the whistleblower SOAS Watch.

The Crisis SOAS report also draws attention to the intensifying links between academia and militarism in an article calling for SOAS management to uphold the democratic mandate of students, workers, and faculty to boycott Israeli academic institutions and withdraw its institutional affiliation with Hebrew University. The University’s Mount Scopus campus is built on Palestinian land illegally annexed in 1968 in the heart of East Jerusalem, and it recently partnered in an “academic excellence program” with the Israel Defence Forces’ Intelligence Corps. *The report reiterates the community’s solidarity with the movement for Palestinian liberation and decolonisation.*

In an editorial, Crisis SOAS claims that the ‘decolonising’ agenda is being “transform(ed) into an aesthetic or marketable export detached from the material struggles and relations of exploitation and violence that universities reproduce” to make it “more palatable to the liberal academy.” Fundamentally, they argue, this reveals a “devastating hypocrisy” as the institution claims to “decolonise in public while militarising in private.”

In response to FOI requests, SOAS defends that it has an “interest in raising money to support its teaching and research activity through enterprise and knowledge transfer activities,” which it achieves by “exploiting its expertise in Asian and African affairs.” The students counter that SOAS management, as well as the members of staff participating in these briefings (which includes academics from LSE, St. Andrews, the University of Cambridge, Kings College London, UCL, Lancaster, and De Montfort) must be held accountable for this exploitation, and the institution’s “increasingly profitable collusion with the coercive apparatus of British neo-colonial power.”

SOAS Students' Union says: “We would like to join the Decolonising Our Minds collective in condemning SOAS for supporting the militarisation of academia. It is outrageous that after recognising its complicity in past colonial power dynamics, the School is still engaging in such projects despite its institutionalised ‘decolonising’ agenda. SOAS is furthering its hypocrisy and double standards when combating structural injustices.”

We hope you will support our concerns and demands via social media (@SOAS #crisissoas19 #soasgrad #wearesoas). Let the Director (va1@soas.ac.uk) and other senior management know your thoughts, where you can cc crisis.soas@gmail.com and decolonisingourminds@gmail.com

Full copy of booklet: https://drive.google.com/…/1--5J3Rdz4mGiOp-e0euT_eKFow…/view

Full list of countries with DCSU 'Cultural Advisors:' Chad, Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo; Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria; Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Cyprus, Bosnia & Herzegovina; Chile