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What we’re about

The ongoing genocide in Palestine is exposing, with possibly unprecedented clarity, how centuries of Western imperialism lie behind present-day atrocities, war crimes, and inequalities.

As faraway witnesses of colonial violence, we feel compelled to at the very least question the interrelated power dynamics and the connections between Western imperialism and (neo) colonialism in the global landscape.

We want to converge with other people for critical conversations, in an attempt to unweave the multiple layers embedded in imperialist power, share knowledge, and grow a potent vocabulary to equip us when confronted with the colonial discourse.

We will work collaboratively to build a knowledge and understanding of anti-imperialism that is rooted in our ambitions for a decolonised future. As long as we uphold this basic common ground, the hope is that ideas and thoughts will shift, reorient, and radicalise, mellifluously stretching the boundaries of our epistemological realms.

This process of communal knowledge building can also hold a therapeutic aspect, which does not stand solely in the background of the initiative, and will contribute to making this group a safe space for the conversations to develop.

📝HOW
This is intended as a collaborative, open project, and the assigned readings come from all participants.

  • During the meeting, we will discuss the reading for the day, and the session will be moderated by the person who proposed it.
  • The session will end with the announcement of the new reading by the next moderator. This person is pointed out a few days before the gathering (ideally on a voluntary basis)

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PRACTICAL INFO

  • This is an existing group running for almost a year; we are looking for new people to join us in our conversations.
  • Sessions will be hosted at the host's place (V+R), and from time to time in a co-working space nearby (Amsterdam West)
  • We aim to meet on a 3-week basis
  • We rarely read entire books; we go mostly for academic articles, book chapters, podcasts, documentaries, research papers, etc.
  • Next event will be decided if we get enough new joiners. We will also communicate the next reading pick (most likely a paper on the practicalities of decolonisation processes).
  • We will use MeetUp only to promote our meeting dates, but we will use our group on WhatsApp to carry on the conversation about the meeting organisation (location, chair of the meeting, time, etc.). If you want to join, we will add you there.