The Politechnic of Turin votes against suspending relations with Israel – SHAME!

The Polytechnic University where I work has missed another opportunity to do the right thing.

On July 15, 2025, the Academic Senate voted by a majority against the Motion for Gaza presented by a group of senators. The Motion called for two simple actions, expressing “deep outrage and condemnation of the ongoing massacre of the civilian population in Gaza”:

  • 1. Public and duly motivated refusal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) to participate in calls for collaboration between Italy and Israel;
  • 2. Public communication addressed to Israeli universities, stating our University’s intention to suspend existing international agreements and not to sign new ones.

The negative Senate’s vote on these simple points is an expression of the technocratic, corporate, and essentially patriarchal approach with which the Polytechnic University of Turin operates.

Now, some colleagues are starting to say no. A petition has been started to express our individual ‘not in my name’ stance regarding this latest decision by the academic senate.

For me, it is important to emphasize that this ‘not in my name’ cannot be limited to the latest vote by the Senate, but must be traced back to the epistemic and material structures underpinning the Polytechnic University of Turin.

In my fourth month of work at this university, in 2021, very few of us said ‘not in my name’ regarding the agreement with Frontex. An agency working with the so-called Libyan coast guard and engaged in extensive pushback, ultimately killing asylum seekers at the border. Even then, the senate gave its best, with two votes that were as problematic as the one on Gaza today (here, or even earlier, here).

In 2023, before October 7, it was—for students and for very few of us—a ‘not in my name’ in relation to the direct collaboration agreements that bind this Polytechnic to producers of weapons and death such as Leonardo.

Then came years of encampments. Of occupations. Of demonstrations, assemblies, and public debates in every media outlet, where few of us continued to say NO and propose concrete alternatives to a certain kind of service-based research.

Now, in July 2025, there are a few more of us saying NO. Really good! But at this junction, all need to remember that saying ‘not in my name’ today cannot stop at a simple nominal dissociation related to the latest nefarious vote in the Senate. For the historical, material, and political reasons that link the genocide of the Palestinian people to the death industries some of us have been fighting for years, our collective NO today must also be a NO to those industries. A NO that changes the political and economic structure of the Politecnico. Otherwise, it will be nothing more than a mid-summer fling. A momentary lifting of our eyes from the Excel spreadsheet, rather than an honest collective raising of our heads.

We need to address the political economy that structures the academic-military-industrial complex in Italy and beyond. That is a form of radical change that is not required by history or that must be done for posterity, but rather must come from a simple respect for all human life here and now.

Public debate in the Valentino Park against rearment, 5th July 5pm

See you this afternoon in Turin at Valentino Park for a day against rearmament.

There will be a packed program with stalls, music, and a round table discussion with other comrades where we will talk about the military-industrial complex and how to eradicate war and its logics from our territories.

The program is listed below, along with some images from the day.

Police infiltrating student organisation in Italy – an appeal

In recent weeks, numerous cases have emerged of police officers infiltrating the structures of Potere al Popolo, an Italian genuine left political party (https://www.fanpage.it/politica/abbiamo-scoperto-almeno-cinque-poliziotti-infiltrati-in-potere-al-popolo-i-documenti-che-lo-provano/). It has now been revealed that the police have also infiltrated student organizations, in particular Cambiare Rotta – an organization of young communists (CR) and the Collettivo Autorganizzato Universitario (CAU) in several Italian cities (https://www.infoaut.org/divise-e-potere/potere-al-popolo-scoperti-altri-3-poliziotti-infiltrati-nelle-nostre-organizzazioni-giovanili).

These are acts of intimidation. They must be denounced and opposed. CR and CAU have launched a petition to demand light be shed on these serious events (Piantedosi, the interior minister, promised to report to Parliament, but never did).

I invite you to read, circulate, and sign their appeal, which we must make our own: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfsa89UQhiSLc0DJAMnl3oi2hGV2bTqBf2EfTTdyDGmnS9itQ/viewform

Here is the list of the first signatories: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qa35xB-uHA7NufbnZGR7YFWlrm6qj5QasvAcIxr0KLk/edit?tab=t.0

A side note. I participated in a CAU event in Naples in May. I was approached by a guy from the collective who, like others, asked me a lot of questions. A few weeks later, it was revealed that this individual was an undercover anti-terrorism cop. This bothered me. But what disturbs me more is something else. Now that I am back in Naples, I have been talking to some CAU comrades about how the youngest among them might be feeling. They are often first-year university students who have never participated in a street protest before. What the State Police have deployed against them is a textbook strategy of terror. Intimidate them before any action becomes not only possible, but even thinkable. What all these kids have done is denounce the genocide of the Palestinian people when no one else did, fight to defend university spaces from the military, and continue to ask uncomfortable questions.

Now we must show them real, direct solidarity. Because the space they are fighting for is also ours. Please sign and support this petition.

On boycotting ISA 2025 in Rabat

A few days ago, a boycott campaign against the forthcoming ISA conference in Rabat, Morocco, was launched by the Moroccan Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel as well as by The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). I was planning to attend the conference, having organised a panel with AbdouMaliq Simone, so the call caught my attention, and that of many other social scientists across the globe.

In the call for boycott, these comrades are urging the ISA to take action regarding the participation of Israeli institutions in the conference, as well as denouncing specific contributions that advance colonial and negationist narratives in relation to the current genocide in Palestine (e.g., https://isaconf.confex.com/isaconf/forum2025/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/155086). The original full statement of the PACBI can be found here: https://bdsmovement.net/news/pacbi-isa-exclude-israel

A few days after the initial statements, on June 28th, the Global Sociologists for Palestine (GS4P) joined the call for a boycott (https://bdsmovement.net/news/global-sociologists-palestine-join-palestinian-calls-boycott-isa-5th-forum-over-ties-complicit). The GS4P document clarifies the reasons for the boycott and, importantly, opens up venues to connect with local scholars and participate in local actions.

After these important interventions, the ISA’s board responded (https://www.isa-sociology.org/en/conferences/forum/rabat-2025/isa-response-boycott-5th-forum). In my view, that response did not address the core problem. Following what liberal western institutions have been long doing, in that statement, ISA speaks of solidarity with Palestine, without engaging in the concrete actions a boycott demands. In the specific, it does nothing about the Zionist content that has been accepted into the conference, nor about the question of giving visibility to Israeli institutions (which are by default part of the Israeli military-industrial complex) at the event.

A further point of contention highlighted by the GSP4 in their text was related to the Israeli Sociological Society (ISS), a member of ISA. As explained by the GSP4, ISS has never “condemn, or even acknowledge, the genocide unfolding in real time” in Palestine. On this latter point, on June 29th, ISA has decided to take action. They released a new statement (https://www.isa-sociology.org/en/about-isa/isa-human-rights-committee/ec-decision-israeli-sociological-society) in which they announced the suspension of the collective membership of the ISS in the ISA.

I am pleased to see that, thanks to the efforts of PACBI, GSP4, and the Moroccan comrades, some significant results have been achieved. These include raising awareness and creating solidarity across many of us globally, as well as pushing ISA to “suspend” the ISS.

However, I believe what ISA has done is not enough and that more profound action is needed. There are at least three levels, which, by the way, I think should apply to all disciplinary associations engaged in the business of global conferencing (in my field, Geography, this includes the AAG or the RGS-IBG, to cite just two).

First. It is not enough to “suspend” the membership of ISS in ISA. That membership should be revoked, plain and simple. A new application to rejoin could be consider if and when ISS will denounce and take actions upon: i) the settler colonial project of Israel in Palestine; ii) the genocidal war of the State of Israel against Palestinian people, land and history; iii) the academic-military-industrial complex in which every Israeli University is emeshed. Till then, a “suspension” is not enough to satisfy the demands of a boycott within the BDS framework.

Second. ISA needs to expel all Zionist abstracts from the conference program. This means removing the abstracts and their authors from the conference altogether. If there is no mechanism in place to do this, then a problem exists. Allowing this kind of content into a global sociological forum cannot be defended under the banner of “free speech”. Racist and colonial content must not be allowed.

Third. ISA needs to cancel all interventions from scholars presenting under the banners of institutions complicit with the genocide. It is true that in doing the latter, Palestinian scholars working in Israeli institutions will also be affected. Yet, in my view, boycotting those institutions bears prime importance. In BDS the point is never about individuals – being Israeli or Palestinian scholars – but about institutions. Therefore, if I welcome ISA’s point on the ISS as a first partial step, I believe a stronger stance is needed: one that calls for no Israeli institutions at the conference, in any form, even if that form is just an affiliation. The epistemic validation that occurs when accepting such affiliations normalizes the related institutions at a time when they should not be normalized, but rather fully boycotted. Such an action would be coherent with a BDS framework, and was already present in the first call for boycott released by PACBI.

[UPDATE = after publishing this post, I came across PACBI’s latest statement, which is essentially along the same lines as what I have written above: https://bdsmovement.net/news/pacbi-welcomes-isa-suspension-reiterates-palestinian-demands)]

Given all of this, as of today (June 30th), I have decided to fully boycott the ISA event, cancel my registration, and refrain from traveling to Rabat. I do this in full support of PACBI and the Moroccan scholars for Palestine who have initiated the call, whom I thank deeply.

I believe going to Rabat and sustaining the activities of these comrades locally is also an option, as they suggest. If you are considering this, the GS4P website provides a link to a mailing list where you can join to stay informed.

In solidarity.

Event with Banchi Nuovi against the military in Naples, July 2nd

I am very happy to participate in this important debate organized by fellow Neapolitan comrades from the Banchi Nuovi Movement (historically one of the most important workers’ movements in and beyond Naples).

See you on Wednesday, July 2, at 5 p.m. to discuss militarization, universities, and Palestine. Special thanks to my dear friend and comrade Rosaria Cordone for organizing this event.

Details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1068843788518066?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22attachment%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22newsfeed%22%7D]%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3Anull%7D

A must read | ‘The Hunger Games’: Inside Israel’s aid death traps for starving Gazans | +972 mag

A new reportage by +972 mag, on the war crimes committed by the genocidal State of Israel, this time pertaining to “humanitarian” action.

“Starving civilians gather in massive crowds, waiting for permission to approach. In many instances, Israeli troops have opened fire on the masses — and even during distribution itself — killing dozens as they try to collect a few kilos of flour or canned goods to bring home in what Palestinians have dubbed “The Hunger Games.”

Since May 27, well over 400 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 wounded while waiting for aid, according to Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Basel.”

Read the full article: https://www.972mag.com/hunger-games-israel-gaza-food-aid/

Stanco! Out now.

“Stanco”, tired, is my refuge word. But tired of what, of whom? My new piece is about this. About being exhausted, but charged with liberating and affirmative power.

“Tired! Of left-wing flags | Of the gender I have, violated in a mass | Tired! Of your violent head, fascist | Tired! Of your patriarchy, racist”

I don’t like macho rap songs. Here are six minutes of love, ending with a beautiful keynote speech by bell hooks. Peace!

Out everywhere.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7I4aWyupc5W0eHS6kdk18J?si=96b5ed3e024a46e3

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/it/album/stanco-single/1818648307

Bandcamp: https://voguemc.bandcamp.com/track/stanco

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/voguemc

Keynote in Sheffield for the WRDP 2025 conference, with Erin McElroy

I am so happy to deliver one of the keynotes for the White Rose Doctoral Partnership 2025 conference in Sheffield, today, 17th June 2025. First, it is a great opportunity to engage with PhD scholars in Northern England. Second, because my dear friend and comrade Erin McElRoy is going to give the other keynote! And third, because the invite came from my dear friend Ryan Powell, whom I thank very much for this.

More info about the event, here: https://wrdtp.ac.uk/events/wrdtp-annual-conference-social-science-care-and-hope/

New review of For a Liberatory Politics of Home in Housing Studies, by Lindsey McCarthy

I am grateful to Lindsey McCarthy for her generous reading of my Duke University Press book.

“For a Liberatory Politics of Home refuses easy answers, but opens up new and necessary directions for thought and action. I imagine it will be remembered as a seminal contribution in housing and urban scholarship – one that future scholars will return to when trying to think differently about the politics of space, care, and belonging.”

Her review is up now on Housing Studies: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673037.2025.2499635

The book and further reviews are available on Duke’s site: https://www.dukeupress.edu/for-a-liberatory-politics-of-home