International Symposium on (Post)colonial Public Intellectuals in Europe

By choosing a (post)colonial framework, and by focusing on intellectuals with network across the globe and in Europe, the symposium attempts to analyse how postcolonial intellectuals contributed to new conceptions of the role of intelligentsia, and of concepts of equality, emancipation and transnational citizenship. More specifically, the symposium will focus on:

• Definitions of the (postcolonial) Intellectual
• (Post)colonial public figures and celebrities
• Transnational public sphere
• Gender and religion
• Citizenship and identity
• Europe and cosmopolitanism
• Media representations and reception

This academic event will pay attention to issues that epitomise the tensions between dominant concepts of citizenship and the role immigrant intellectuals play: freedom of speech; tensions between ‘objective’ civic institutions and processes ethnic identification; gender and ethnic relations; and the transnational and viral character of social networks.

• Sandra Ponzanesi, Professor of Gender and Postcolonial Studies (Utrecht University, NL).
• Remco Raben, Associate Professor of History of International Relations (Utrecht University, NL) and Professor of Postcolonial Cultural History and Literature (University of Amsterdam, NL).
• Umar Ryad, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies (Utrecht University, NL).
• Bert van den Brink, Professor of Social and Political Philosophy (Utrecht University, NL).

• Engin Isin, Professor of Professor of Citizenship, Politics and International Studies (Open University, UK).

• Elizabeth Buettner, Professor of Modern History (University of Amsterdam, NL).
• Rosemarie Buikema, Professor of Art, Culture and Diversity (Utrecht University, NL).
• Quinsy Gario, Activist in the movement against Zwarte Piet and Performance Artist
• Odile Heynders, Professor of Comparative Literature (Tilburg University, NL).
• Nancy Jouwe, Researcher (University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, NL).
• Birgit Kaiser, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature (Utrecht University, NL).
• Jamila Mascat, Researcher (University of Paris I – Sorbonne, France and at the Instituto italiano per gli studi filosofici, Naples, Italy).
• Mehdi Sajid, Researcher (Utrecht University, NL).
• Neelam Srivastava, Senior Lecturer (University of Newcastle, UK).
• Arnoud Visser, Professor of Textual Culture in the Renaissance (Utrecht University, NL).

• Sandro Mezzadra, Associate Professor of Political Theory (University of Bologna, Italy) and (University of Western Sydney, Australia).

Participants with a background in political theory, philosophy, religious studies, gender and postcolonial theories, media studies, visual culture, history and international relations, conflict studies, sociology and cultural studies are particularly welcome.

The project is sponsored by Utrecht University’s strategic theme Institutions for Open Societies.

The attendance to the conference is free of charge, but registration is encouraged. In order to participate please contact Adriano Habed (A.J.Habed@uu.nl)

More info here.