The Journal of Controversial Ideas (JCI) is a publication founded in 2021 as part of the academic exploitation of sex and gender minorities.
A significant portion of its content involves attacks on the transgender community presented as “academic” debate.
Background
In 2012, Francesca Minerva received harsh criticism and threats after publishing an article on the ethics of child euthanasia. Minerva then wrote a 2014 article titled “Why Publishing Pseudonymously Can Protect Academic Freedom.” Singer joined Minerva and Jeff McMahan in developing the project, which they announced in late 2018. Singer incorporated the nonprofit Foundation for Freedom of Thought and Discussion Inc. in 2019. The first issue of The Journal of Controversial Ideas was published on April 23, 2021.
Contributors
Several contributors are key figures in the “academic freedom” faction of anti-transgender activism, including Michael Biggs, Peter Boghossian, Alex Byrne, Jerry Coyne, Callie H. Burt, J. Cohn, Cordelia Fine, Lee Jussim, Holly Lawford-Smith, Glen Loury, Jeff McMahan, John McWhorter, Francesca Minerva, and Peter Singer.
Those whose JCI articles are directly or tangentially related to sex and gender minorities include:
- “Fira Bensto”
- “J. Cohn”
- “Maggie Heartsilver”
- “Shuichi Tezuka”
- “Brecht Vaerwaeter”
- “K. Whittaker”
- Michael Biggs
- Susanna Flavia Boxall
- Callie H. Burt
- Alex Byrne
- Becky Cox-White
- Cordelia Fine
- M. Oreste Fiocco
- Yves Gingras
- Raja Halwani
- Mark Horowitz
- Edward Jarvis
- Daphna Joel
- Holly Lawford-Smith
- Kate M. Phelan
- Uwe Steinhoff
- John Turri
- Michael Veber
One article with over two dozen authors featured many of the usual suspects.
- Dorian Abbot, University of Chicago
- Andreas Bikfalvi, University of Bordeaux
- April L. Bleske-Rechek, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
- Walter Bodmer, University of Oxford
- Peter Boghossian, University of Austin
- Carlos M. Carvalho, University of Texas, Austin
- Joseph Ciccolini, Aix Marseille University
- Jerry Coyne, University of Chicago
- Jürgen Gauss, University of Mainz
- Pete M.W. Gill, University of Sydney
- Svetlana Jitomirskaya, Georgia Tech/UC Irvine
- Lee Jussim, Rutgers University
- A.I. Krylov, University of Southern California
- Glen Loury, Brown University
- Luana S. Maroja, Williams College
- John McWhorter, Columbia University
- Sadredin Moosavi, Rochester Community Technical College (MN)
- Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle, UCLA
- J. Pearl, Michigan State University
- Marisol A. Quintanilla-Tornel, University of Georgia
- Henry F. Schaefer III, JustusLiebig University
- P.R. Schreiner, Massey University, Auckland
- Peter Schwerdtfeger, Heidelberg University/Monash University
- Dan Shechtman, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology/Iowa State University
- Mikhail Shifman, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
- Jay Tanzman, Independent Statistician, Pasadena CA
- Bernhardt L. Trout, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Arieh Warshel, University of Southern California
- James D. West, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
References
Anthony, Andrew (December 2, 2018). Do we need to hide who we are to speak freely in the era of identity politics? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/dec/02/journal-of-controversial-ideas-jeff-mcmahan-peter-singer-francesca-minerva-identity-politics
Media
Perrino, Nico (Aug 4, 2020). ‘Journal of Controversial Ideas’ with Prof. Peter Singer. So to Speak / FIRE https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/so-speak-podcast-transcript-journal-controversial-ideas-prof-peter-singer
EIN 83-4396765