Decolonization has become a buzzword in academia, but what, precisely, is “decolonization”? The conference brings together scholars whose research expands the geographies, methods, and vocabularies through which decolonization is understood. By examining the “promises, problems, and practices” involved in defining decolonization, this conference frames it as both a practical and an epistemic challenge.
The conference pursues three main objectives. First, it seeks to reassess the historical and geographical boundaries of decolonization and to open new perspectives of research on its postcolonial forms. Second, it aims to uncover underexplored narratives by encouraging reflection on archival sources, fieldwork practices, and epistemic reflexivity. Third, it examines how the shift from decolonization to decoloniality takes shape across different academic and institutional contexts. Ultimately, this conference seeks to address the “so what?” question by asking how debates on decolonization can help us take the next step: to think about ‒ and conduct ‒ research differently.
Programm
THURSDAY 8th OCTOBER
13:00–13:15 Welcome
Anaïs Angelo / Austrian Academy of Sciences
Nicole Immler / University of Humanistic Studies Utrecht
Johannes Feichtinger / Austrian Academy of Sciences
13:15–14:30 Keynote
Chair: Anaïs Angelo / Austrian Academy of Sciences
Frederick Cooper / New York University
Decolonizations: Possibilities and constraints
14:30–15:00 BREAK
15:00‒16:30 Expanding the frontiers of histories of decolonization
Chair: Anaïs Angelo / Austrian Academy of Sciences
Cassandra Mark-Thiesen / University of Regensburg
Prismatic discourses on decolonization in immediate post-independence journals from Africa
Florian Wagner / University of Erfurt
‘Du bon usage de la décolonisation’? (Mis-)Appropriations of decolonization in the journal Civilizations (1950s-2000s)
16:30–17:00 BREAK
17:00‒18:30 Central Europe as a space of discussion on decolonization
Chair: Sophie Schasiepen / The House of Austrian History
Angela Kóczé / Central European University
Europe’s internal colony? Romani women and the decolonial critique of Central Europe
Bolaji Baolgun / SOAS University of London
Varieties of European colonialism: Locating and contextualising Central-Eastern Europe within the 'colonial orbit'
FRIDAY 9th OCTOBER
09:00‒09:15 Welcome
09:15‒10:30 Keynote
Chair: Antje Daniel / University of Vienna
Kodzo Gavua / University of Ghana
Decolonizing the colonized
10:30‒11:00 BREAK
11:00–12:00 Visualizing decolonization? Artistic and research practices
Disscussion with Noémie Étienne / University of Vienna
Memory Biwa / Independent Researcher
Places flooded with sound: Outa !Nanseb’s letters as counter-archival listening practices
12:00–13:30 LUNCH
13:30–15:00 Decolonizing knowledge production through state institutions?
Chair: Kerstin Klenke/ Austrian Academy of Sciences
Chibuike U. Uche / University of Leiden
Knowledge, state power, and revisionist scholarship
Valérie Rosoux / Max Planck Institute Luxembourg
Coming to terms with Belgium’s colonial past: The failure of the parliamentary commission
15:00–15:30 BREAK
15:30–17:00 Transformative justice ‒ decolonial reparations?
Chair: Valérie Rosoux / Max Planck Institute Luxembourg
John Njenga Karugia / Humboldt University Berlin
Provincialising decolonization: Institutionalising responsible cosmopolitanism
Nicole L. Immler / University of Humanistic Studies Utrecht
Dialogics of justice: towards a decolonial approach to repair
17:00–17:15 SHORT BREAK
17:15–18:15 Which future to decolonization?
Chair: Anaïs Angelo ‒ Nicole Immler ‒ Johannes Feichtinger
Closing debate with input by A. Dirk Moses / City College of New York & Central European University