MasterClass 'Decolonising International Relations'
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- “What is ‘colonial’ about International Relations, and what does it mean to ‘decolonise’
our research and teaching in this field? There are now multiple dimensions to the ‘postcolonial critique’ of IR, which has become increasingly prominent as an orientation to research. This critique encompasses the basic assumptions of the field, its historical sensibilities, the way it defines its objects and research questions, the methods that it uses, the ethics of its data collection and the wider political orientations of the research it produces. It also contemplates the university as a colonial institution and the classroom as a space of prospective transformation.
This masterclass focuses on the power of postcolonial thought in redefining the ways in
which we ‘do’ International Relations. It will introduce different analytical concepts and
strategies of critique from this tradition, and discuss how these can be applied in the
study of different phenomena, such as war and intervention. It will examine some of the
difficult questions this poses for ‘data collection’ as traditionally understood, and discuss
ways of handling these. It will also open up questions of how different forms of political
engagement might animate new research questions from a postcolonial perspective.”
Meera Sabaratnam (PhD, LSE) is Lecturer in International Relations in the Department
of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London. Her research
interests are in the colonial and post-colonial dimensions of world politics, within IR
theory, history and contemporary policy and practice.
Mark Laffey (PhD, University of Minnesota) is Senior Lecturer in International Relations
and Head of Department in the Department of Politics and International Studies
at SOAS University of London. His research interests are in International Security,
International Relations Theory and Postcolonial Theory and Politics.
It is essential to register by emailing polsis.gradcentre@uq.edu.au
Open to all Graduate Students
Directions to UQ
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