Academic Hit Lists and Victimisation: Scoping a research agenda on victimisation and cyberbullying in academia and science

Abstract

One of the most unexplored areas in emotions and criminal justice falls under the issues of well-being, cyberbullying and academia. Drawing on both personal experiences and anecdotes from others, this presentation scopes out what are the potential implications of cyberbullying, twitter trolling, and criticisms against academic freedom experienced by the climate science and environmental sociology community.

Academic hit lists such as the ‘Professor Watch List,’ to which I have myself been added, along with the abuse experienced via twitter trolls, can have significant implications for personal well-being and the development of academic knowledge. Moreover, it can have implications on the work of academics and scientists. For instance, climate scientists have reported they under-estimate the impacts of climate change in fear of continued misinformation campaigns and demonisation of themselves and work (Brysse et al., 2013). Consequently, the examination of academic and scientist experiences of victimisation online, in the media, and at events, is an important area in criminological study that needs further examination.