Free Public Lecture Series - Dr. Suhraiya Jivraj and Dr. Meera Sabaratnam

Registration: https://jivraysabaratnam13feb.eventbrite.com

The field of International Relations in the West has been described by one of its founders as the study of the best way ‘to run the world from positions of strength’. How, then, can such a field be ‘decolonised’? In this talk I will explore strategies for decolonising our approach to a specific discipline which involves fundamentally re-thinking the standpoint from which we ask and answer questions, uncovering the histories of the field and its relationship with imperial projects, challenging theories founded on racist or Eurocentric stereotypes, more empirical engagement with the world outside the ‘West’, a deconstruction of the category ‘the West’ itself, more dialogic research strategies and a wider conception of the ‘political’.

Dr Suhraiya Jivraj is Senior Lecturer in Kent Law School. Her work draws on critical race and religion theory and (feminist/queer of colour) post/de-colonial perspectives to explore contemporary socio-legal problematics in the fields of law and religion, equalities, anti-discrimination and human rights law. She is the author of The Religion of Law: Race, Citizenship and Children’s Belonging (Social and Legal Studies Series, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and co-ordinator and Principal Investigator of the AHRC funded Decolonizing Sexualities project which brings together a transnational network of scholars and civil society activists working across issues of race, religion, sexuality and gender. She co-edited the most recent work of the network in a book entitled: Decolonizing Sexualities: Critical Interventions, Transnational Perspectives. (CounterPress, 2018) which is downloadable on a pay what you can basis. Her current research project brings together her ethical commitment to critical and inclusive pedagogy and decolonizing work. She was awarded a Teaching Enhancement Support Award to collaborate with students and other stakeholders on decolonizing the curriculum (2018/19). This work is published in the #DecoloniseUKC Manifesto (available online) with a forthcoming co-authored E-book with the project students.

Dr. Meera Sabaratnam is Senior Lecturer in International Relations in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, University of London, and Chair of the Decolonising SOAS Working Group. Her research interests are in the colonial and postcolonial dimensions of world politics, in theory, practice and methods. Her recent book Decolonising Intervention: International Statebuilding in Mozambique, which is available Open Access, has won a number of accolades from the International Studies Association (ISA). She has formerly held Editorial positions at Millennium: Journal of International Studies and the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, and she serves on the International Advisory Boards for International Studies Quarterly and Security Dialogue. She was the co-founder of the Colonial/Postcolonial/Decolonial Working Group of the British International Studies Association and co-edits the Rowman & Littlefield International Book Series Kilombo: Colonial Questions and International Relations.

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