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Title: HAU Apology Author: David Graeber Date: 2018 Language: en Topics: letter, journal, abuse Source: Retrieved on 28th November 2021 from https://davidgraeber.org/articles/hau-apology/
I would like to make a public apology to anyone who has been hurt by
their involvement with HAU.
Six years ago I helped initiate the HAU project. At the time I believed
it to be a brilliant concept: an open-access journal, based on a
radicalization of the grand tradition of ethnographically grounded
anthropological theory. I still believe that. The problem was in its
realization. From early on there were signs that something was amiss,
that I realize now I should have noticed; these signs became more
salient over time. After one incident of alleged physical violence at
the end of 2016, some of HAU’s patrons did try to intervene, to stop
power from being concentrated and abused; but we did not act firmly or
consistently enough – and the end result was that workers and
contributors appear to have been treated in shocking ways, the
administration appears to have been grossly mishandled, due process
undermined, potential supporters alienated, and the project of HAU as an
open-access journal was not successful as a result.
I am convinced, as I believe are most of those involved with the journal
from early on, that this was not because of any inherent flaw with the
project or in the open-access model itself. It was simply the way it was
pursued. On a political level, I am concerned that HAU’s failure as an
experiment in free scholarship, and its sale to University of Chicago
Press, will be held out as proof that such projects aren’t viable. This
would be truly unfortunate.
On a personal level, what particularly distressed me was learning two
things: first, that my political reputation, like that of others
identified with the journal, was used to draw young scholars into a
situation where they experienced abuse (“I had heard bad things,” one
reported having thought, “but after seeing David Graeber’s name on the
masthead, I figured, how bad could it really be?”) and second of all,
that my name and status appear to have been used to intimidate and
threaten others who might have complained of ill treatment. Words can
barely express how angry I am at this. But I am also angry at myself,
because the signs were there. While I did eventually put two and two
together, and attempted to intervene, I should have done so much
earlier. I can only ask the forgiveness of all those who were hurt
because of my earlier inaction.
— David