Academics in a Century of Displacement

‘Endangered scholars’ is a recently highly relevant, yet historical notion. Embedded in the greater history of the 20th and 21st centuries, it captures the phenomenon of scholars who, after years of intellectual work and integration in their societies of origin, are forced to seek rescue in foreign host societies. The pressing urgency of the topic thus has an important historical background. From escaping Russian intellectuals after 1917 to the protection of Jewish refugees during World War II, Algerian intellectuals in contemporary history, or persecuted academics from Turkey today: Over the course of about a century, categories of inclusion, transnational relations, and forms of agency of scholars at risk remained surprisingly stable (and hence diachronously and synchronously comparable) while they also adjusted flexibly to contemporary conditions. This collective volume carves out this historical development and its recent expressions. It brings together researchers in a vivid yet largely unconnected field of migration and refugee studies. By developing a complex image of the origin of the global history and politics of protecting endangered scholars from the early 20th century until today, the book contributes to research on academics in exile as a part of refugee research, migration studies, the history of higher education, and the contemporary history of societies. The interdisciplinary volume explores the phenomenon as a historical, political and legal subject, brings together scholars of forced migration and intellectual studies, and includes currently affected scholars into those reflections. About The Editor Leyla Dakhli, Dr., is researcher in Modern History at the French Center for National Research (CNRS), member of the Center of social history of Contemporary Worlds (CHS). Her recent publications include L’Esprit de la révolte. Archives et actualités des révolutions arabes (Éditions du Seuil 2020). Pascale Laborier, Prof. Dr., is full professor of political science, at the University of Paris-Nanterre and ISP-CNRS since 2011 and Fellow of the French Convergences Institute on Migration (ICM). Among other obligations she is the curator of the exhibition “ Standing for Freedom” traveling in Europe in 2020-2024 editor of a special issue of Hommes & Migrations (Musée National de l’histoire de l’immigration 2021). Frank Wolff, PD Dr. habil. is senior researcher and Privatdozent for Modern and Contemporary History at Osnabrück University and a member of its Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS). His latest book, co-authored with Volker M. Heins is „Hinter Mauern: Geschlossene Grenzen als Gefahr für die offene Gesellschaft“ (Suhrkamp 2023).