Decolonial theory

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Otherness

Wiki

process of differentiation and demarcation, by which the line is drawn between ‟us” and ‟them” – between the more and the less powerful – and through which social distance is established and maintained (Lister 2004).

Counter-mapping

Wiki

Counter-mapping refers to the effort of mapping against dominant power structures with the aim of creating social or political change.

Critical cartography

Wiki

Critical cartography refers to the academic field in which products and processes of cartography are critically analysed in order to reveal hegemonic power-relations.

Hidden transcripts

Wiki

Hidden transcripts is a concept often used in discussions of power and resistance, and it refers to forms of resistance and dissent that are kept out of sight for those in power.

'Long-forgotten-people': online representations of the enslaved in Laura Plantation museum

Paper

Mariska van Schijndel

31/01/2022

20 minutes to read

Plantation museums have the duty to represent the history of slavery and the lives of the enslaved, however the Laura Plantation museum website endorses a Lost Cause ideology, romanticizing and whitewashing plantation life and enslavement.

Decolonizing the Universal Museum

Paper

Daniel Obubo

21/01/2022

10 minutes to read

This article focuses on globalisation, universalism and the concept of the universal museum while dissecting The Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums through the context of stolen artefacts like the Benin Bronzes.

Rhythm and Rebellion - a review of Fela Kuti’s activism and music (Fela Kuti)

Review

Daniel Obubo

19/11/2021

10 minutes to read

This review looks into two songs by Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti, Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense and Sorrow tears and Blood.

Jan Blommaert, in memoriam, sociolinguistics,

Semiotic futures: celebrating Jan Blommaert’s radical scholarship

Column

Ana Deumert

05/01/2021

8 minutes to read

In this column Ana Deumert pays tribute to Jan Blommaert's scholareship, focusing on the text From Fieldnotes to Grammar (2013), and the possibility of formulating a 'new science of language'.

Activist links Black Pete to the Dutch colonial past

Black Pete: When commodifying “blackness” is tradition

Column

Tess Kanters

08/12/2020

11 minutes to read

Black Pete is a tradition for the Dutch population. Traditions are, however, ever-changing entities, especially ones rooted in colonial commodification of blackness.

Behrouz Boochani, activism, no friends but the mountains

Literary Activism: Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend but the Mountains

Column

Odile Heynders

17/11/2020

6 minutes to read

Kurdish journalist / philosopher Behrouz Boochani spent nearly 5 years in a detainee camp on Manus island texting messages from a hidden mobile phone. The messages were composed to a literary novel, winning a prestigeous prize in 2018.

Mustapha Khayati, situationist international, marx

Insurgent Words: The Political and Linguistic Work of Mustapha Khayati

Column

Ana Deumert

13/10/2020

7 minutes to read

This column reflects on the political/linguistic thought of Mustapha Khayati, his role in the 1968 uprisings and his preface to a Situationist Dictionary.

Covid-19: A World United, A World Apart

Column

Ana Deumert

30/03/2020

8 minutes to read

Covid-19 affects us all, but it affects us differently. In this column I look at #StayAtHome policies outside of middle-class realities, and argue for caring and compassionate policy interventions that support the most vulnerable.