A reflection on Decolonizing Sociology

The past few months in Britain have seen a growing ridiculing of calls to decolonize the curriculum. However, these criticisms have failed to understand what decolonizing the curriculum is really about, writes Ali Meghji. From the prime minister claiming that Britain needed to move on from the ‘cringing embarrassment’ it has towards its previous empire,... Continue Reading →

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Connected Sociologies

The Connected Sociologies Curriculum Project is led by Prof Gurminder Bhambra and is designed to support students and teachers interested in ‘decolonising’ school, college, and university curricula. It provides resources for the rethinking of sociological concepts, categories, and topics that will enable us to make better sense of the worlds we inhabit. This supplements and... Continue Reading →

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The Undisciplined Readers (Lent 2022)

Our decolonise sociology reading group "The Undisciplined Readers" will be starting on Friday 28th Jan at 12:30- 1:30pm UK. This term we are excited to be collaborating with artists and academics from "Monumentoclasm: workshop in anti-colonial imagination" for this term. We will be meeting bi-weekly to discuss pre-circulated texts.  Meetings and Readings Friday 28th Jan (12:30pm) - De... Continue Reading →

Meetings Termcard (Michaelmas 2021)

Committee Meetings The committee is chaired this year by Dr Ali Meghji. Meetings in Michaelmas term will take place at the times below via Zoom. These meetings are open to all and we particularly encourage new sociology students to attend. Join our mailing list to receive the zoom links for each session. Thur 14 Oct... Continue Reading →

The Undisciplined Readers (Easter 2021)

Starting in Easter Term, this new reading group will discuss decolonial scholarship from a range of different disciplines. You can find the proposed reading list for the Undisciplined Readers below. If you would be interested in joining this group, or for or more information, please email Iris Pissaride. Literature and Archives Saidiya Hartman (2008) Venus... Continue Reading →

Decolonising through critical librarianship internship opportunity

We are very pleased to announce the opening of a part-time internship opportunity with Cambridge University Libraries to work on the upgrading of our Decolonising through critical librarianship platform. The site, launched in autumn 2019 and run by Cambridge library staff, currently holds 19 pages of resources and case studies concerning decolonisation in libraries, with numerous UK and international... Continue Reading →

The Economics of Parasite (26 Nov 2020)

Winner of four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and the Palme d'Or, Parasite touches on the dynamics of exploitation, class conflict, and the internalization of a capitalist subjectivity in the microcosm of a wealthy South Korean home, and a family's attempt to escape its systemic deprivation. On Thursday 26 Nov 2020 at 5pm, the Cambridge... Continue Reading →

Termcard 2020-21

The coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement have exposed racial inequalities in new ways. Join the conversation this term about practices in the Department and in Cambridge, as well as following racial justice movements across the globe. [read more]

Decolonisation at Cambridge

In this MPhil dissertation, Joe Cotton traces the emergence of the decolonisation movement in Cambridge and describes the various efforts and initiatives across the University. He writes: "Broadly speaking, decolonisation at Cambridge calls for a rigorous, reflexive and historically-aware curriculum, at an equitable, just and genuinely inclusive university, which refuses to enact or support neo-colonial... Continue Reading →

Reflections on Race Equality

"I find it unbearable to see how we keep using these completely false ideas about humans and people. These false beliefs about our differences deny us opportunities to develop and collaborate and to do things together and to grow as humans. We are so distracted by racism, that's what infuriates me." Dr Mónica Moreno Figueroa... Continue Reading →

Black lives matter

Theatre collective 20 Stories High have created a useful resource with information on how to support the fight against racism (now and into the future), signposting for people that want to learn how to be better allies, and accounts to follow to stay updated locally, nationally and internationally.

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End Climate Colonialism (Green Week 2020)

This year's Green Week is full of exciting events exploring the historic relationship between capitalism, colonialism, and the climate crisis. These events seek to centre the voices of the communities most impacted by extractivism and climate breakdown, and amplify their demands for justice. We will discuss what meaningful climate justice looks like, and how we... Continue Reading →

Decolonising Politics Presents: Global Intellectual History as Decolonisation?

On the 28th of January (5:30pm, Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School) Decolonise Politics will be hosting a panel with Dr Shruti Kapila, Dr Tom Hopkins, and Dr Tejas Parasher to discuss and question the relationship between global intellectual history and decolonisation.  The connection between decolonisation and global intellectual history is not a straightforward one.... Continue Reading →

Dog Years (2017)

Join us on Thurs 17 Oct, 20:00 at the Old Library (Darwin College) for a screening of the powerful documentary film about the 2015 “refugee crisis”, Dog Years, featuring Noam Chomsky. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the filmmakers, Rocky Rodriguez, Jr., and Helen Foster, moderated by Cambridge sociologist Dr. Jeff Miley. Continue Reading →

The role of Sociology in the Climate Crisis

While there are many established approaches to the urgent problems of climate crisis within the areas of science, technology and policy, sociologically oriented analyses of environmental change are still emerging. This initiative within the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge proposes to address and systematically incorporate attention to environmental change within the curriculum [read more]

In Conversation with Raewyn Connell (Fri 14 June)

"The higher education industry might seem like it’s booming, with over 200 million students in universities and colleges worldwide and funds flowing in like never before. But the truth is that these institutions have never been unhappier places to work. Corporate-style management, cost-cutting governments, mobilisations by angry students and strikes by a disgruntled workforce have taken their toll — in almost every country around the world. It’s no wonder that there is talk of ‘universities in crisis'."

You can watch this event on YouTube .

Termcard (Easter 2019)

Join us this term to help plan events and strategise for Easter Term! We're always looking for new members to support decolonisation work in the Department and across the University.

Radical Reading Group

A group of PhD students at the Department of Geography have started a reading group to discuss decolonising discourses and methodologies, and to reflect on how research at Cambridge can support decolonisation work. All welcome - not just PhD students and Geographers!

Reading Group (Fri 5th April)

Decolonise Sociology and the Race, Empire & Education Collective invite you to our first joint reading group session, focusing on the life of Angela Davis. The session will be on Friday 5th April from 2-4pm in Meeting Room 1, Department of Sociology, 16 Mill Lane. You can find the readings for this session below. Required:... Continue Reading →

Cambridge & Historical Legacies of Slavery

This post is based on comments delivered at a panel discussion on Cambridge & Historical Legacies of Slavery on 28th February 2019 as part of the Centre for African Studies public lecture series on Race and African Studies.  The event discussed recent research and reparative approaches at other UK universities and debated the significance of... Continue Reading →

Decolonising Sociology Panel

At the "50 Years of Sociology at Cambridge" conference, this panel focused upon the question of what decolonising sociology means; attending to the historical ‘colonisation’ of sociology, as well as how thinkers, systems of thought, topics of study, and geographical areas have historically and presently been excluded from sociology’s canon and periphery. You can watch a video recording of the panel session here.

Termcard (Lent 2019)

Join us this term to get up-to-date on decolonising work conducted so far, and help us strategise for the future! We're always looking for new members to support the work of our subcommittees.

Antiracism on the picket lines

Photo credit (C) Duncan Brown 2017 On UN Anti-Racism day during the 2018 strike action, co-chair of the Decolonise Sociology working group, Dr Manali Desai, shared her thoughts on institutional racism at the University of Cambridge. “I don’t need to tell you that Cambridge has a race problem. Let me start by saying that just... Continue Reading →

Rethinking State and Nation

On 30th Jan 2018, Professor Gurminder Bhambra delivered a lecture titled "A Postcolonial Rethinking of the State and Nation: From Comparative to Connected Sociologies", which was hosted by the Department of Sociology.

Rally for Decolonisation

On 31st October 2017, approximately 200 students and several staff members converged outside the Senate House in a rally to show support for the decolonisation of Cambridge University, as well as solidarity with CUSU Women's Officer Lola Olufemi after being targeted in the Mail and the Telegraph. Read the student demands in full here.

Overview

Welcome to the website for the Decolonise Sociology working group. The group was established on the 31st October 2017 to pursue the decolonisation of the Cambridge Sociology Department. The working group consists of student and faculty members, divided into four subcommittees...[read more]

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