25.02.2025What Feminist Stories Should We Tell in this Moment of Decolonial Struggle in Palestine and Beyond?

Speaker

Dr. Zeina Zaatari (University of Illinois, Chicago)

Date and Time

February 25, 2025, 16:00 pm CET

Venue

public online lecture (please find zoom access in the flyer below)

Abstract

This lecture will look at storytelling as an important feminist practice for transformative social change. This historical moment we’re in is laying bare the futility of international frameworks (human rights, modernity, etc.) in the face of geopolitical power structures and ongoing colonial and imperial projects. It is also raising questions around diversity and inclusion frameworks within universities and their inability to contribute to decolonial projects on the one hand and their becoming the target of right wing and fascist attacks on the other hand.
The decolonial struggle in Palestine has had reverberations across the world and particularly within the belly of the Empire, the United States. Many activists (students, faculty, community organizers, etc.) are connecting the dots and analyzing the connections between these various struggles to decolonize land, culture, and our own bodies. At the same time, we are witnessing colonial feminisms’ resurgence and growing attacks on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) frameworks on campuses. This lecture will explore these issues and the questions they raise for where and how do feminists (scholars, activists, and scholar/activists) contribute to the decolonial project.

Organization

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies - Gender Studies