International Network for Philosophers of Education

2ND CALL FOR PROPOSALS - REVISED DEADLINE: MARCH 1

Note on the theme: "Postcolonialism: Forging a Knowledge of Belonging"

The topic of postcolonialism continues to attract substantive and critical attention, with increasing correlations with decolonisation, internationalisation, as well as Africanisation. The term ‘postcolonial’ is often reserved for a discourse or discipline that purports to explain the deleterious effects of power in imperial and colonial relationships including cultural legacies although it is also part of the narrative of political independence (Peters, 2019). Amid increasing currents of migration, displacement, as well as the possibilities of new iterations of postcolonial citizenships, and what these might look like, it seems very likely that the debates on postcolonialism will continue. On the one hand, are the appealing possibilities of seeing things differently, departing from counter-knowledges, offering a language of and for those who have no place, who seem not to belong, of those whose knowledges and histories are not allowed to count (Young, 2009) – opening a natural gateway for conversations on raced-gendered epistemologies that emerge from the social, cultural, and political (Bernal, 2000). On the other hand, the heterogeneity associated with postcolonialism contributes to inevitable fluidity, leading to questions, tensions, and vulnerabilities as to the pragmatic potential of a postcolonial way of life. Of concern, is not only how to move around or transcend ‘colonialism’s economic, political and cultural deformative traces’ (Shohat, 1992: 105). But also, whether it is at all possible to re-inscribe ‘other’ cultural traditions into ‘narratives of modernity and thus transforming those narratives’ Bhambra (2014: 116) to ensure belonging, whether in educational settings or the public space.

If we agree that postcolonialism has developed within a broader politics of knowledge, then what kinds of knowledge do we need to disrupt dominant assumptive conceptual frameworks which have rendered the ‘other’ as passive and docile (Bhambra, 2014), and more importantly, how, do we instil these new kinds of knowledge into our educational contexts? How might postcolonial theory and pedagogy assist in taking us out of western essentialism and exceptionalism, and into a new kind of world in which the racial, social, and cultural subjugation of any people becomes antithetical to the very idea of being?

The conference seeks to create a vibrant space of deliberation, dialogue, and debate, and invites philosophical papers reflecting on education in relation to the theme above and/or in relation to the following sub-themes:

• Knowledge and indigeneity
• Postcolonial identities, stories, and implications for democratic citizenship
• Essentialism and exceptionalism
• Postcolonialism and philosophy of education
• Postcoloniallanguage, curricula, and pedagogies
• Early childhood education and development
• Adult/community education and vocational training
• Belonging, and social justice
• Activism in formal and informal education
• Postcolonialism and decolonisation

Submission of Proposals

There will be three plenary sessions: the Terence McLaughlin Lecture in honor of the late past President of INPE, plus addresses by two other invited speakers. In addition, there will be 3 types of sessions for which contributions are invited:

1. Concurrent Paper Sessions

These will be organized around philosophical papers on one of the conference themes. Each session will allow sufficient time for discussion of a paper of up to 5000-6000 words in length. Submissions for concurrent paper sessions should include a full paper and a 500- word abstract

2. Working Paper Sessions

The purpose of working paper sessions is to allow participants to present papers outlining ‘work in progress’. Proposals for working paper sessions should be in the form of a 1000- 2000 word abstract and will be grouped by topic or approach.

3. Round tables/symposia

Submissions may include proposals for round tables/symposia in which three or four participants will present related papers around a particular theme. Submissions should provide the symposium title and topic, an overall abstract of 200-300 words, the names of the participants and an outline of 100- 200 words on each of the proposed contributions.

Please note, the due date for submissions is 1 March 2024. Please note also that the conference is planned to take place on site, in Lancashire.

Submissions should not include papers that have been published previously, presented at other conferences, or that are scheduled for other forthcoming conferences. All conference proposals – for any of the three types of sessions – should be sent to the Chair of the Programme Committee, Nuraan Davids (inpe.2024@gmail.com) by March 1st, 2024. Proposals will be reviewed by the Conference Programme Committee. All authors are requested to identify under which sub-theme their contribution is submitted. While contributions would ideally deal with the assigned themes, this is not mandatory. However, the philosophical-educational bearing should be rendered explicit in the text. Decisions will be announced by April 15th 2024. Proposals are welcome from those who are not members of INPE. However, if accepted, presenters will be required to join INPE before May 15th 2024. 

Registration Fees

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

* Terence McLaughlin Lecture will be held by Prof. Michalinos Zembylas 

Abstract

Recovering Anticolonialism as an Intellectual and Political Project in Philosophy of Education

This talk revisits the tension between decolonization and other social justice initiatives in education scholarship. It particularly focuses on the arguments both in favor of and against the concept of decolonization involving the return of land. While various colonized communities understandably emphasize their unique political priorities in their struggles against specific forms of colonial domination, I contend that it would be beneficial for education as both an academic field and a practice to reemphasize the importance of anticolonialism as a shared intellectual and political endeavor. Anticolonial thought and action can provide education scholars, activists, and practitioners with a framework that fosters connections and solidarity in the fight against colonialism, without ignoring the differences between decolonization and other political endeavors. Instead of pitting various political projects against each other, such as viewing social justice initiatives that don’t prioritize land restitution as misguided, anticolonialism seeks as a point of departure to analyze and oppose a wide array of colonial practices and their consequences. These include racism, militarism, resource exploitation, land dispossession, and more. The talk concludes with a discussion of possible intellectual trajectories through which philosophy of education may contribute.

Michalinos Zembylas is Professor of Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies at the Open University of Cyprus, Honorary Professor at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa, and Adjunct Professor at the University of South Australia. He holds a Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Chair for 2023-2026. He has written extensively on emotion and affect in education, particularly in relation to social justice, decolonization and politics. His latest books are: Responsibility, Privileged Irresponsibility and Response-ability in Contemporary Times: Higher Education, Coloniality and Ecological Damage (co-authored with Vivienne Bozalek), and Working with Theories of Refusal and Decolonization in Higher Education (co-edited with Petra Mikulan).

* Prof. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni

Professor Ndlovu-Gatsheni is currently Professor and Chair of Epistemologies of the Global South with Emphasis on Africa and Vice-Dean of Research in the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth in Germany; Professor Extraordinarius in the Department of Leadership and Transformation (DLT) in the Principal & Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of South Africa (UNISA); Professor Extraordinarius at the Centre for Gender and African Studies at the University of Free State (UFS) in South Africa; Honorary Professor in the School of Education (Education & Development Studies) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa; Research Associate at the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa; Research Associate at the Department of Political Science at the University of Pretoria (UP) in South Africa; and Research Associate at The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies at The Open University in the United Kingdom. Professor Ndlovu-Gatsheni is a prolific scholar with a hundred publications including more than 20 books to his name. His latest publications include Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization (Routledge, 2018); Decolonization, Development and Knowledge in Africa: Turning Over A New Leaf (Routledge, 2020); Marxism and Decolonization in the 21st Century: Living Theories and True Ideas (Routledge, 2022) co-edited with Morgan Ndlovu; and Beyond Coloniality of Internationalism: Reworlding the World from the Global South (CODESRIA Book Series-in press).

* Dr. Rowena Azada-Palacios

Abstract

Can we teach philosophically about unspeakable human suffering?

Some recent attempts by philosophers to comment on the war in Gaza have been met with harsh criticism. When the war ends, it will, by some measures, be one of the worst in recent history, and against this backdrop, armchair concept-parsing about it has appeared frivolous to many. As Tena Thau (2024) put it in her guest post on the Daily Nous: ‘The hellish reality of this war is transfigured by philosophers into abstract thought experiments and technical prose’. Criticisms such as Thau’s raise the question of whether any philosophical approach — and therefore, any approach to teaching philosophy (whether in educational settings or the public sphere) — can be appropriate when its object is other people’s urgent and widespread human suffering. Considering the substance of such criticisms, I argue that attempts to philosophise about urgent and widespread human suffering ought to culminate in a praxis-oriented solidarity. Against this criterion, I weigh potential approaches from two philosophical traditions. First, I consider anti-colonial approaches, which themselves have been both widely used and widely criticised in the current discourse about the war in Gaza. Second, I consider phenomenological approaches, which have been seen to be useful for understanding private experiences but have been less influential so far with respect to exploring political questions. Following on from this, I attempt to reconsider how the task of teaching philosophically might be understood, and propose a phenomeno-political approach that benefits from the useful analyses of power provided by anti-colonial traditions.  

Rowena Azada-Palacios is an assistant professor of philosophy at Ateneo de Manila University, where she has taught for more than 20 years, and an associate lecturer at London Metropolitan University, New York University - London, and University College London. Her scholarship in educational philosophy draws from anti-colonial political thought and the Continental tradition to address questions about power, politics, identity, justice, and the pedagogical relationship. She has recently been involved in interdisciplinary collaborations that have examined teaching for social justice in different national contexts, and in philosophical collaborations seeking to advance decolonial approaches to critical social theory. Her forthcoming book, Postcolonial Education and National Identity: An Arendtian Reimagination, will be published later this year by Bloomsbury Academic. Rowena is the founding chair of the Philippine Society of Education and Philosophy (PhilSEP), a founding member of the Philippine network Women Doing Philosophy, and a former board member of the Philosophical Association of the Philippines.  

***

References

Bernal, D.D. (2002) Critical race theory, Latino critical theory, and critical raced-gendered epistemologies: Recognising students of color as holders and creators of knowledge. Qualitative Inquiry 8(1): 105–126.

Bhambra, G.K. (2014) Postcolonial and decolonial dialogues. Postcolonial Studies 17(2): 115– 121.

Gilson, E. (2014). The ethics of vulnerability: a feminist analysis of social life and practice. New York: Routledge.

Peters, M.A. (2019) Manifesto for the postcolonial university, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 51(2): 142-148.

Shohat, E. (1992) Notes on the ‘postcolonial’. Social Text 31/32: 99–113.

Young, R. (2009) What is the postcolonial? Ariel, 40 (1): 13–25.