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SUMMARY:Can We Decolonise the Academy from Within?  - Dr Zoe Marks\, Unive
 rsity of Edinburgh
DTSTART:20171113T170000Z
DTEND:20171113T180000Z
UID:TALK93688@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Victoria Jones
DESCRIPTION:Audre Lorde invokes the fundamental challenge for transforming
  systems of inequality and oppression when she observes “the master’s 
 tools will never dismantle the master’s house”. We know that power-kee
 pers cannot emancipate those they have oppressed\, but in academia we have
  also seen that change is difficult\, if not impossible\, without cooperat
 ion and collaboration from institutional powerbrokers. In this talk\, I ex
 amine the implications of complicity for researchers and educators engaged
  in oppressive knowledge systems in the context of efforts to decolonize A
 frican Studies. I ask if and how we who partake in and are carved from par
 tial and unequal knowledge hierarchies can transform them in a way that is
  truly emancipatory. In the spirit of feminist analysis and hybrid epistem
 ologies\, I discuss the issue in three parts. First\, I outline the system
 ic challenges we face in decolonizing the academy\, mapping briefly the co
 ntent\, structures\, practices\, and processes of the African Studies ecos
 ystem. Second\, I discuss auto-reflexively (or simply\, candidly) the stra
 tegies I have implemented in my own early career to dismantle white hegemo
 nic knowledge structures\, and reflect on some of the challenges and limit
 s I have encountered in transformation work. Third\, I present preliminary
  quantitative data from my research with Ian Russell on inequality in Afri
 can Studies publishing and gatekeeping in peer-reviewed journals. Ultimate
 ly\, I argue we need to be more rigorous in our individual and institution
 al attempts at decolonization. Creating space and ceding control are neces
 sary precursors to enabling innovation and amplifying emancipation.
LOCATION:Seminar Room S1 Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambridge
  CB3 9DT
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