Decolonised Narratives? PGR-Led Symposium

In a climate that sees frequent conflict between decolonial movements and efforts to reinvigorate the colonial projects of past centuries, from Palestine and Sudan to Myanmar and Taiwan, decoloniality as practice has come under increasing public scrutiny. It is more crucial now than ever to consider the possibilities and limitations of efforts to decolonise raised in the critical works of thinkers from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o to Walter Mignolo to Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, and the creative projects of artists-activists like Arundhati Roy and Lubaina Himid.

In 2002, world-systems theorist Immanuel Wallerstein called on scholars to ‘make our disciplines less dubious’ by abandoning the imperialist logic of dividing academic knowledge into separate disciplines (460). This conference seeks to create a space for exploring the nuance of decolonisation through the sharing of trans-disciplinary knowledge, in which scholars and practitioners may come together to respond to the following key questions:

• To what extent is decolonial thought/practice a useful tool in spaces such as in academia, politics and ideas of nationhood, and how fully can this be realised?
• What happens when there is resistance to decolonisation, evidenced in the scrapping of EDI agendas, the banning of books, the rewriting of historical narratives and ongoing neocolonial efforts?
• How are people across different disciplines reimagining decoloniality and how are they embedding it into their creative and critical practices?

This will be an in-person symposium at Manchester Metropolitan University where we will be joined by Dr Sunita Abraham (Lecturer in Decolonisation at Lancaster University) and Anjum Malik MBE (Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University) as keynotes. Dr Abraham has worked extensively within the field of decolonisation including researching Lancaster’s connection to the transatlantic slave trade and decolonisation within universities. Anjum Malik is a prolific writer and broadcaster with the BBC and was appointed City Poet for Manchester. She will be discussing her film: We Are Butterflies Forever in Flight.

Submissions:

Responses may take the form of academic papers, poetry performances, video essays, posters, mini workshops, and other forms of creative presentation. Each presenter will be given up to 20 minutes for their presentation with time for questions and discussion after each panel.

Please submit a 250-word abstract and 50-word bio to the organisers Devjani Bodepudi, Brontë Crawford and Sumithreyi Sivapalan at mapssymposium2026@gmail.com by 3rd July 2026. Please indicate clearly the format of your submission (panel, paper, performance, poster presentation, video essay, film etc) and any accessibility requirements we can support with.

The conference is free to attend with refreshments and lunch included. There will also be 3 travel bursaries to support the attendance of postgraduate or unwaged scholars available for train travel up to £50. Please indicate if you wou like to be considered.