New academic coalition calls for reparations, end to US global influence
Professors, educators, and activists have formed a coalition to dismantle what they call an "imperialist" world order headed by the United States.
A coalition of university professors has launched the Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective (AISC), pledging to challenge what it calls “U.S.-led imperialism” and replace it with a new international order.
Formed in July and announced on X, AISC describes itself as a group of “scholars, educators, and knowledge workers” engaging in a “battle of ideas” to promote global “liberation and justice” through anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and socialist frameworks. Its founding documents call for “radical and transformative reparations” from “imperialist powers” to the “Global Majority,” enforced by a new international legal and financial system.
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Despite its stated opposition to Western institutions, AISC members teach and study at publicly funded universities, including Columbia University in New York City, New York; Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia; the University of Massachusetts Amherst; Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; the University of Houston in Houston, Texas; and the City University of New York (CUNY).
One member, Helyeh Doutaghi, was terminated from Yale University after Campus Reform reported on her alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. AISC has publicly supported Doutaghi and continues to list her as a member.
Other members include Nina Farnia, assistant professor at Albany Law School; Uahikea Maile, a University of Chicago professor specializing in Hawaiian sovereignty; Manu Karuka, an associate professor at Barnard College; and Walaa Alqaisiya, a fellow at Columbia University’s Center for Palestine Studies, who is publishing ”Decolonial Queering in Palestine.”
In July, AISC issued a statement supporting Corinna Mullin, one of four CUNY professors fired amid reports of anti-Semitic statements.
The group also lists several allied organizations, including the Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran, the Black Alliance for Peace, the National Lawyers Guild, and Community Movement Builders. Many of these groups openly promote socialism or Marxist principles on their websites.
Campus Reform has reached out to AISC, Columbia University, Virginia Tech, and CUNY for comment. This article will be updated accordingly if responses are received.
