Settler Colonialism Today. Theoretical Approaches and Situated Knowledges

International Workshop

Although widely debated, the notion of “settler colonialism” constitutes a key framework for understanding the alarming current political developments in the international sphere. In dialogue with Indigenous, Black, Decolonial and Postcolonial theories and methodologies, Settler Colonial Studies have defined settler colonialism as a fundamentally relational process: in this case, a predatory and extractivist relationship imposed on a given population over an extended period with the aim of dispossessing it of its land and resources—material, human, and symbolic. This dispossession not only affects the colonized community’s relationship to its own territory but also transforms its ways of life in all their dimensions.

Settler colonialism is thus a power relation characterized by its intersectionality (gender, class, race) and by the replacement of one population by another, including through genocidal processes. The global scale of the phenomenon calls for examining the issue across different geographical contexts, which must be situated within their respective historical settings. Beyond their differences, the various contexts subjected to settler colonial dynamics share salient features and invite us, taking the Palestinian case as a point of departure, to rethink the humanities and social sciences from the perspective of Settler Colonial Studies and to adopt a multidisciplinary approach to these specific forms of violence. 

Program

9:00-9:30: Welcome Speech

Francesca SERRA, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities
Claire-Akiko BRISSET (University of Geneva)

9:30-10:30: Cyrus SCHAYEGH (Geneva Graduate institute)

“Settler Colonial Studies: A Historical Analysis” 
Discussant: Ur SHLONSKY (University of Geneva)

Q&A Session

10:30-11:00: Coffee Break

11:00-12:00: Caterina BANDINI (Université Côte d'Azur, France)

“Settler Colonialism as an Epistemological Turn: A Critical Appraisal”
Discussant: Aline SCHLAEPFER (University of Geneva)

Q&A Session

12:00-13:30: Lunch Break

13:30-14:30: Cassandra KRAUSS (Independent Researcher)

“Settler Colonialism in Contemporary Indigenous Literatures: A Theoretical Survey”
Discussant: Deborah MADSEN (University of Geneva)

Q&A Session

14:30-15:30: Norman AJARI (Independent Researcher)

“Fanon on the Settler Colonial Form of Existence” 
Discussant: Antoine ACKER (University of Geneva)

Q&A Session

15:30-16:00: Coffee Break

16:00-17:00: Lorenzo VERACINI (Swinburne University of Technology’s Institute for Social Research, Australia)

“Settler Colonialism is an Unequal Relation”
Discussant: Léo MAILLET (University of Geneva)

Q&A Session 

17:00-18:00: General Discussion & Conclusion