SyRG "Syria Research Group"

I was invited to speak at this event yesterday, and this is what I said: 1. Can higher education institutions truly decolonise? Neoliberal priorities drive higher education to value profit over people, the planet, and decolonisation. Geopolitical agendas too impede it. It is a myth that imperialism and colonisation are relics of the past. In reality, they continue. 2. IoE and UCL have a long history of contributing to empire-building, from promoting racist theories and supporting eugenics to endorsing civilising missions. Has this ever truly stopped? Even today, discussing Palestine instils fear of punishment. This is why we must ask: what does decolonising mean at UCL? 3. There also a long tradition of resisting imperialism at IoE, and UCL. Imperial agendas don't define the university. We are the university. We must reclaim it and ask how we and our institutions can responsibly contribute to the world. 4. What is colonisation? It involves land grabs, control over people, dictating how knowledge is produced and valued, and controlling our minds, identities, and subjectivities. It shapes how we relate to each other, our planet, and our worldview. Coloniality is a deep-seated virus that perpetuates imperialism and harm. 5. Decolonisation is about repair, restore, reparations, global justice, and hope. Repair harm. Restore egalitarian knowledges. Freedom and dignity for all. Restoring nature. 6. Decolonisation isn't just about the West vs. the rest. Other imperial projects exist, and our students may come from dominant groups and ideologies elsewhere, which may perpetuate neocolonial projects elsewhere. Therefore, we need to think of decolonisation in pluriversal terms: what does decolonisation look like from the very margins of societies? 7. Decolonisation is also about interconnected liberation. Climate, the struggle against authoritarianism, predatory corporate greed, and COVID show our lives; our freedoms are intertwined. It's about ensuring we are not bad ancestors to our future generations. 8. Despite all our constraints, the classroom is still a space where we can dream for hope, liberation, dignity and just knowledge for a just world. @ucu @UCL_UCU @sussexucu @IOE_London @UCL_Global @TomWestonSJ @bds_ucl @aine_mcallister @leda @kamenopoulou @alim1213 @alison_phipps @MahaShuayb @PaulineMRose @novelli_mario @arathings @tom_western