The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement has made incredible strides in recent years, from successful campaigns to deny municipal contracts to Veolia, a transit company involved in the Jerusalem Light Rail project, to musician Lauryn Hill’s widely publicized cancellation of a performance in Israel. U.S.-based solidarity work has especially taken off on college campuses, with students leading divestment campaigns, educational and outreach programs, and walkouts and protests. Faculty have become increasingly involved, especially through successful and on-going campaigns to get professional academic associations to sign on to the academic and cultural boycott. BDS in the U.S. represents compelling and still evolving collaborations between academic institutions and grassroots movements. Here we offer as a case study a selection of recent writing about the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. This list also includes resolutions passed by a number of professional associations over the past two years.

  • Robin Kelley: Locke Down on BDS?
    Robin Kelley provides a historical account of boycott as a social movement strategy, drawing from black liberation struggles in the U.S. and South Africa.
  • Critical Ethnic Studies Association: BDS
    Collection of CESA materials related to its involvement in BDS, including its resolution joining the U.S. Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and a statement in support of the ASA.