Academic boycott of South Africa

The academic boycott of South Africa comprised a series of boycotts of South African academic institutions and scholars initiated in the 1960s, at the request of the African National Congress, with the goal of using such international pressure to force the end to South Africa's system of apartheid. The boycotts were part of a larger international campaign of "isolation" that eventually included political, economic, cultural and sports boycotts. The academic boycotts ended in 1990, when its stated goal of ending apartheid was achieved.^[1]

An academic boycott isolates scholars by depriving them of the formal and informal resources they need to carry on their scholarship. An academic boycott can include:

1. Scholars refusing to collaborate with South African scholars on research,
2. Publishers, journals, and other scholarly resources refusing to publish scholarship or experiments by South African scholars, or refusing to provide access to scholars in South Africa,
3. International conferences refusing to locate in South Africa or include South African scholars,
4. Scholars refusing to travel to South Africa or participate in activities such as serving on thesis committees for South African students,
5. Universities and other institutions worldwide refusing to grant access to their resources to South African scholars, or to invite South African scholars to their own institutions.

Both during and after the apartheid era, there was debate whether academic boycotts were an effective or appropriate form of sanctions. Even within anti-apartheid circles there was debate over whether the boycotts were ethically justified, and whether they hurt liberal scholars more than conservative ones.^[1] Campus libertarians criticized the ban because they believed it interfered with academic freedom, and conservative groups worldwide criticized the boycotts simply because they "disliked such anti-apartheid initiatives".^[2]

Subsequent research in the post-apartheid area has claimed that the boycotts were more a "symbolic gesture of support" for anti-apartheid efforts rather than a direct influencer of the situation.^[1] Additionally, the academic boycott was perceived by the targets of the boycott, South Africa scholars, as unjust and discriminatory.^[1]