Could not discuss the study

Rachael Lorna Johnstone, professor of Arctic and International Law at the University of Akureyri and the University of Greenland, describes a bizarre state that prevails in the US scholarly community after Donald Trump took over as president. She says scholars are worried and hesitant when it comes to expressing themselves in the public domain.

At the end of January, Rachael went out to the United States for Fulbright to work for the Wilson Institute, a cross-political thinker, two holes from the White House. There, she followed the scene on the eve of the state department that handles state efficiency (doge) suddenly closed the thinker.

Rachael told about her experiences of this and discussed the legal side of Trump’s first 100 -day lecture at the University of Akureyri today. She emphasizes that she is expressing her personal views and that she does not speak on behalf of the Fulbright or Wilson Agency.

Doge drove all the bosses

In a conversation with mbl.is, Rachael declares that soon after she came out to the United States, it became clear to her that her research work at the Wilson Institute would not be as she had expected.

The same weekend as she came out, all the officers of another government agency were in the same building as she worked in Doge and after that her colleagues became tremendous.

« When I came in on Monday, I didn’t know how everything would be, I came to the office and met a colleague there and then there were very clear messages that I should not comment on what we were doing and also not about my research, which is really about climate change and justice.

« The Wilson Agency officers said we needed to be careful not to be visible and not say anything that the government could consider as unpopular. »

Could not comment

As you can understand, this was a major variation for Rachael.

« It was a great change for me as a researcher and professor who has become accustomed to saying what I think and if someone disagrees they just say something else and it’s all good. But now the message was just » no, okay, you are not going to talk about this « . We still had to continue the research, but we shouldn’t talk about it. « 

Rachael also points out that the message from the officers of the Wilson Agency has been very different from what other officers have told her over the years.

« It was very interesting because I am such a classic professor who sits in the office and reads books and writes, but people, especially the rector and officers, are always pointing me to be more visible.

Stressful

Then Rachael says US colleagues as well as all public servants are very troubled about the situation.

« This is a very stressful time for all those who work for government agencies, not just the Wilson Institute. A few hundred thousand people have been laid off and work around 50,000 civil servants has suddenly been transformed into political work. That means the government can run those people immediately and it disagrees with it: »

« People were stressed and didn’t want to comment. People talk about it but just do it in the coffee shop, it’s not talking about it in the public domain. »

Rachael says she herself has experienced these concerns when she worked at the Wilson Institute.

« Not out of me, I myself have Icelandic citizenship and the worst thing that could happen was that I would be sent home, but my colleagues, both in the Wilson Institute and at Fulbright, could get into trouble out of me. »