Racial Justice, Equity and Power (RJEP) Conference

This inaugural conference seeks to bring together researchers, scholars, teachers, practitioners and activists from diverse fields to discuss critical issues around racial justice, equity and power, acknowledging the contested nature of concepts such as race, racialisation, and (de) racialisation.

The conference also aims to highlight the tensions and practices that continue to underscore racial and epistemic injustices across the world today, with a view to engender critical dialogue on ways of thinking about anti-racist theories and practices. Accordingly, the overarching theme for the conference this year is - Rethinking Racialisation, Theory and Anti-racist Practices.

Topics covered by this call for contributions include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Anti-racist practices and education in global contexts, including conflict zones
• Dismantling knowledge and power in education
• Colonial history and legacies    
• Anti-oppressive theories, methodologies & pedagogies 
• Colour-blind policies and racialisation in institutions
• Institutional policies, interventions and evaluation 
• Black identity, culture and belonging
• Art, media and representation
• Language, power and representation
• Rights, advocacy and participation
• Social movements, activism and racial justice
• Intersectionality and social justice
• Solidarity, allyship and anti-racist praxis
• Migration, mobilities and racial bordering
• Health, wellbeing and embodiment 
• Racial justice and (de)racialisation

Keynote speakers: Professor Heidi Safia Mirza and Professor Khadija Mohammed

We welcome papers from a wide range of contexts and disciplines that theoretically and empirically examine ways to de-racialise thinking, knowledges/epistemes and practices in the 21st century. We welcome traditional paper presentations of 20 minutes, as well as alternative modes of presentation including performance, film, photography, etc. of approximately 10 minutes.

Please submit approximately 250 word abstracts along with your name, email address and institutional affiliation. If you would like to find out more or submit a paper, please email RJEPconference@uos.ac.uk. The deadline for submissions of abstracts is 10 February 2025.

For more information, please contact the organising committee (Pere Ayling, Chrissie Da Costa, Alina Rzepnikowska Phillips and Pallawi Sinha) at RJEPconference@uos.ac.uk