On Tuesday, January 31, Ira Katznelson (Columbia University), president of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), issued a statement addressing the responsibilities of nonpartisan social science organizations in the current political climate. Over the last week, in the wake of an executive order that temporarily bars travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States, protests against the Trump administration have escalated across the nation.

In his statement, Katznelson stressed the need for continued rigor in social science research. Rather than simply responding to “day-to-day events and provocations,” he argued, the SSRC and other social science institutions have an obligation to renew their commitment to international collaboration and strengthen existing programs that address issues such as the environment, peacebuilding, racial inequality, and political participation. He concluded, “Working across lines of party, demography, and geography, I am confident that we can augment our efforts to shield and deploy social science to prevent cruelty and imagine decent alternatives.”

Katznelson is a former chair of the Russell Sage Foundation’s Board of Trustees and co-editor of the RSF book Preferences and Situations (2007). View his statement for the SSRC in full.