You’re warmly invited to the second Decolonise Sociology working group meeting of term on Wednesday 22 November, 4-6pm, in the Sociology Seminar Room and on Zoom (please email us to receive the zoom link).
If you are able to join us in person please do, as we aren’t always able to facilitate the same experience for those joining online.
The core theme for this session will be the idea that ‘decolonisation is not a metaphor’, which we will explore across two discussions.
Discussion 1: Decolonisation and Palestine
The discussion question we will explore in this session will be: “(How) does the Israel-Hamas war and calls to Free Palestine change our perspective on what is meant by decolonisation?” Many of you may already be familiar with Tuck and Yang’s article “Decolonization is not a metaphor”, in which the authors argue that decolonisation should be exclusively concerned with Indigenous-led demands for radical restructuring of land, resources and wealth globally. According to Tuck and Yang: “Decolonization is not a swappable term for other things we want to do to improve our societies and schools. Decolonization doesn’t have a synonym.” You may wish to read the whole article, but the introduction and abstract is sufficient to discuss the themes of the piece.
- Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. 2012. “Decolonisation is not a metaphor”. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 1-40.
- Maia Golzar Anderson and Thumy Phan. 2022. “Decolonisation on (in) the ground: Farming as colonial resistance in Palestine.” shado-mag.com.
The second recommended reading is a short online piece by Anderson and Phan, who invite us to think about the material dimensions of decolonisation in the Palestinian context. If you would like to bring any additional suggestions for readings on indigeneity, restoration or resistance to the session please do, as there will be space to share readings and resources, but equally this is not expected or required!
Discussion 2: Decolonising the “imperial centre”
Shifting focus to the context of higher education, Oliveira Andreotti et al (2015, 22) suggest that “examining the complexities, tensions, and paradoxes that emerge in different decolonization efforts is vital pedagogical work.” This directs the theme of our second discussion in this session, which concerns “corresponding effort and change in the imperial centre” (Takayama et al 2016, 19). The question that will motivate this discussion is: “What can we do from where we are?” We will turn our attention inwards, considering our positionality and responsibilities as academics, as well as the institutions that we are connected to. This will lead us to consider the kind of spaces and projects that we want to develop through our working group. As part of this discussion, Mónica will present the “Thinking Us” project, as a follow-up to the Decolonising the Curriculum in Theory and Practice seminar series.
We hope to see many of you there!
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