Transcending Settler Colonialism: Decolonization, Reconciliation, and Transformation
This two-day conference will bring together Indigenous scholars and non-Indigenous scholars from across Canada, the USA, the UK, Uganda, Finland, and Australia to engage in presentations and discussions of cutting-edge research related to the themes of Indigenous resurgence and resistance; decolonization; reconciliation; and transformation of settler colonialism, as well as other closely related topics. The conference is funded by the McGill Indigenous Studies and Community Engagement Initiative, the Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds (Research Group on Global Justice and Research Group on Constitutional Studies), and the Centre de Recherche en Éthique.
The conference will also involve scholars in the McGill and Montréal communities, including post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate students, as well as the broader public. We are committed to advertising this event to relevant interested parties and community partners, and to involve local experts in some roles during the conference.
The keynote lecture will take place 4:00-5:30 pm, May 26, 2022, in Leacock 232, by Mahmood Mamdani, ‘Reflections on Settler Colonialism in North America and Africa.’
For more information, and to register (free, for planning purposes), please see the attached poster, or this website:
The conference is generously funded by the McGill Indigenous Studies and Community Engagement Initiative, the Yan P. Lin Centre’s Research Groups on Global Justice (RGGJ), and on Constitutional Studies (RGCS), as well as the Centre de Recherche en Éthique ( CRÉ), and the Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire en Philosophie Politique (GRIPP).
Schedule for May 26 and 27, 2022
| Day 1 |
| 8:30-9:00 Welcome by organizers |
| 9:00-10:30 Panel 1
Chair: Yann Allard-Tremblay Kelly Aguirre, Decolonization is Also Metaphorical: Indigenous Feminist and Queer Storywork Matters Rauna Kuokkanen, Transcending Settler Colonialism through Decolonizing and Gendering Climate Governance |
| 10:30-11:00 Coffee/tea break |
| 11:00-12:30 Panel 2
Chair: Kelly Gordon Adam J Baker & Emma Battell Lowman, Corduroy Roads: Material Landscapes of Social Transformation Tyler Caux-Loohuizen, Walking is Not (Just) a Metaphor: Relational Diplomacy Through Connection in Motion |
| 12:30-1:30 Lunch break |
| 1:30-3:00 Panel 3
Chair: Megan Bradley Catherine Lu, Ending Wars, Ending Structural Violence Mohamed Sesay, On the limits of (neo)liberal peacebuilding in postcolonial Africa: Historical structural injustices in ‘postconflict’ Sierra Leone |
| 3:00-4:00 pm Coffee/tea break – time in the sun break |
| 4:00-5:30 Keynote Lecture
Chair: Catherine Lu Mahmood Mamdani, Reflections on Settler Colonialism in North America and Africa |
| 5:30-6:30 pm Reception |
| Day 2 |
| 9:00-9:30 Welcome |
| 9:30-11:45 Panel 4
Chair: Ryoa Chung Yann Allard-Tremblay, Consolation and Reconciliation: a Path from Whiteness to Humanity Lorenzo Veracini, Relations Beyond Recognition Olivier Samson, The repositioning of Canadian Settlers in response to contemporary indigenous struggles |
| 11:45-1:00 Lunch break and Student Poster session:
Alexia Leclerc Elyssa Khoury Grey Lorbetskie Jaymes MacKinnon Maeve Botham Robert Spadidakis |
| 1:00-2:30 Panel 5
Chair: Hasana Sharp Adam Dahl, Settler Colonialism and Cultural Pluralism: The Limits of Transnational Citizenship Didier Zúñiga, Progress, technology, nature: Life and Death in the Valley of Mexico |
| 2:30-3:00 pm Coffee/tea break |
| 3:00-4:30 Panel 6
Chair: Makonen Bondoc Talia Holy, No One Is Illegal on Stolen Land! Migrant Rights in Settler Colonial States Kelsey Brady, There Are No Such Things as Territorial Rights |
| 4:30-5:30 Break-out group discussions
5:30-6:00 Public Roundtable following the break-out groups on Transcending Settler Colonialism |
