Decolonizing Decoloniality

DECOLONIZING DECOLONIALITY:
A VIEW FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE WORLD

We hear calls from around the world to decolonize, diversify, and decenter knowledge production and dissemination. But what does this really mean in different contexts, who is participating, and whose interests are served?  For the last two years, the GDC has been hosting a series of community-wide conversations about Decolonizing Decoloniality.  So far, scholars from Mexico, Indonesia, Taiwan, Mozambique and Angola, and Argentina have shared their experiences and practices. See the playlist of our previous conversations.

Upcoming conversation – In the Archives, 7 Februray 2025

The next conversation in our series on Decolonizing Decoloniality will take place on February 7th at 3PM CET / 2PM GMT and UTC / 9AM EST. It will focus on the « decolonizing » of colonial archives with perspectives from Belgium and Canada, in discussion with Bérengère Piret, professor of contemporary history and archival science at the UCLouvain, and archivist at the Archives de l’Etat in Belgium and François Dansereau, Director of The Archive of the Jesuits in Canada and a Course Lecturer at the McGill University School of Information Studies in Montreal. It will be facilitated by Nora El Qadim, professor of political science at University Paris 8 and fellow of the Institut universitaire de France. The conversation will take place in French but there will be translation available through Zoom. Full description below.
To attend, RSVP here.

Decolonizing Decoloniality – In the Archives

February 7th, 2025 – 3PM CET / 2PM GMT and UTC / 11AM ART/ 9AM EST / 8AM Central Time / 10PM China Standard Time

Archives are often described as sites of power. As such, they are also sites and objects of the debates on decolonizing. But can archives be “decolonized”? This conversation in French will look at how discussions and tensions on “decolonizing archives” are happening and unfolding from the perspective of two French-speaking institutional contexts in the Global North, Québec and Belgium.

François Dansereau is the Director of The Archive of the Jesuits in Canada and a Course Lecturer at the McGill University School of Information Studies. His research interests are focused on anticolonial archival praxis, including interrogations around archival description and redescription, as well as repatriation and digital repatriation actions. He is the author of a few publications, including « Archival Description, Land, Settler Colonialism, and World-Building in the Collection des archives du Collège Sainte-Marie », with Henria Aton and Kate Nugent, (Canadian Journal of Library and Information Studies, 2025) and « Déploiements des archives, altérité et espaces de mémoires relationnels : pour une archivistique éthique anticoloniale » (Documentation et bibliothèques, 2021). François holds a Masters in History from Université de Montréal, and a Masters in Library and Information Studies – with a concentration in Archival Studies – from McGill University.

Bérengère Piret is professor of contemporary history and archival science at the UCLouvain, and archivist at the Archives de l’Etat in Belgium. Her work has focused on prison in colonial context (Les cent mille briques, 2011). She has also published numerous articles on colonial justice systems, and examined the creation and functioning of colonial courts in Congo (1885/1908-1960), Rwanda and Burundi (1919-1962), as well as criminal policies. Her more recent work has focused on examining colonial archives not only as sources, but as objects of research. She has explored the displacement, description and management of colonial archives, and focused on the ethical and methodological aspects of these practices.

 The conversation will be facilitated by Nora El Qadim, University Paris 8 and Institut universitaire de France.

It will take place online (Zoom) in French with automated translation available.

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Les archives sont souvent qualifiées de lieu du pouvoir. En tant que telles, elles font l’objet de débats sur la décolonisation. Mais les archives peuvent-elles être «  décolonisées »? Cette conversation en français examinera les discussions et tensions autour de la « décolonisation des archives » et la façon dont celles-ci se déroulent depuis la perspective de deux contextes francophones du Nord global, le Québec et la Belgique.

François Dansereau est directeur des Archives des jésuites au Canada et chargé de cours à l’Université McGill. Ses intérêts de recherche actuels concernent les praxis archivistiques anticoloniales, incluant les activités de redescription et les questions de rapatriements et rapatriements numériques. Il est l’auteur de quelques publications, notamment de « Archival Description, Land, Settler Colonialism, and World-Building in the Collection des archives du Collège Sainte-Marie », avec Henria Aton et Kate Nugent, (Canadian Journal of Library and Information Studies, 2025) et de « Déploiements des archives, altérité et espaces de mémoires relationnels : pour une archivistique éthique anticoloniale » (Documentation et bibliothèques, 2021). François est détenteur d’une maîtrise en sciences de l’information – concentration archivistique – de l’Université McGill et d’une maîtrise en histoire de l’Université de Montréal.

Bérengère Piret est professeure d’histoire contemporaine et de science archivistique à l’UCLouvain, ainsi que cheffe de travaux aux Archives de l’État en Belgique. Ses premières recherches se sont concentrées sur l’incarcération en contexte colonial, notamment avec Les cent mille briques (2011). Par la suite, elle a publié de nombreux articles consacrés à la justice coloniale, examinant la mise en place et le fonctionnement des tribunaux coloniaux au Congo (1885/1908-1960), au Rwanda et au Burundi (1919-1962), ainsi que les politiques pénales qu’ils ont mises en œuvre. Dans ses travaux les plus récents, les archives relatives à la colonisation sont envisagées non seulement comme des sources, mais également des objets de recherche. Elle explore les archives de la colonisation sous l’angle de leur déplacement, de leur description et de leur gestion, en s’intéressant aux enjeux éthiques et méthodologiques associés à ces pratiques.

 La conversation sera animée par Nora El Qadim, Université Paris 8 et Institut universitaire de France.

Elle aura lieu en ligne (Zoom) en français, avec sous-titres automatiques disponibles.

Previous conversations

Mexico – Federico Besserer (Professor of Anthropology, Autonomous Metropolitan University) and Dahil Melgar (Chief Curator, National Museum of Cultures of the World), facilitated by Peggy Levitt (Mildred Lane Kemper Chair of Sociology, Wellesley College). Recording available in Spanish (with English subtitles).

Indonesia – Sita Hidaya (Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta) and Judith Schlehe (Professor in the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Freiburg), facilitated by Sanderien Verstappen (University of Vienna, Austria). Recording available in English.

Taiwan – Prof. Hongzen Wang (Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Director of the Austronesian Studies Center, and the Dean of Si Wang College at National Sun Yat-Sen University) facilitated by Ken Chih-Yan Sun, (Associate Professor at Villanova University). Recording unavailable. In English.

Mozambique and Angola – Ines Raimundo (Eduardo Mondiane University in Mozambique), Prof. Higino Lombe (Auxiliary Prof at the University of Culto Cuanavale In Angola), and Prof. Isaías Falau (Assistant Professor at the Superior Institute of Social Sciences and International Relations in Angola), facilitated by Alvaro Lima, Research Director at the Boston Planning and Development Agency. Recording available in Portuguese and English (with subtitles).

Argentina – Máximo Badaró and Silvina Merenson (EIDAES UNSAM/CONICET), facilitated by Patricia Lepratti (IDES-UNGS), Luciana Denardi (UNSAM/CONICET), and Ezequiel Saferstein (UNSAM/CONICET). Recording available in Spanish (with English subtitles)