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Dear Olivia and all, 

I would like to share a few ideas. Firstly, it is extremely difficult to think about a decolonial kind of anthropology (or knowledge in general) without de-neoliberalising academia. Neoliberalism and neocolonialism go hand by hand, as the first brings the unequal power relations between North and South to another level of complexity and subtility by, for example, transforming radical thinking and diversity in a commodity. By saying this, I do not mean to accuse anyone, especially you Olivia, for after all the academic environment in many countries is what it is, and many of us are trying to do our best under privatised and precarised conditions. I agree with you Olivia that decolonising is an imperfect process, and probably the word is not even the best. But I also feel uncomfortable when I see this kind of fees for such a course. It also has to do with one thing we should discuss more, that is how the national differences between institutional cultures are a barrier for symmetrical academic collaboration, and one important thing here is that to decolonise anthropology Northern scholars should understand what anthropology really is like in the South, how it is done, and what "theory" means there. In this sense, inviting scholars from the South is a way of enriching this reflection. 

And regarding what Emmanuel/Atelier Etno said, well, I endorse Mariya's words. Besides, it is always shocking to see how some topics are treated so rashly as if that was a question of opinion, and not hard study and qualified discourse. As scholars, we are supposed to study a little bit before taking any position. That is clearly not the case.

Regards,
Vinicius

Em seg., 4 de mai. de 2020 às 15:46, Mariya Ivancheva <[log in to unmask]> escreveu:

Wow, 

such a "great" reminder of how anthropology can still serve the colonizer's cause by an exquisite intellectual masturbation of relativising colonial history and swiping all colonial and neocolonial responsibility under the rug of this upper class exercise we are all to one or another extent complicit with. 

And you know what, Atelier Ethno, yes, decolonizing is not enough, we should be speaking of reparation.

Not very kindly, 
Mariya





On Mon, 4 May 2020, 18:54 Atelier Etno, <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Colonise! Decolonise!

Dear friends,
May I join the debate on decolonisation? The planet was colonised by
humans. We are lucky that the present Coronavirus is not strong enough
to decolonise it entirely. But who knows? Perhaps the next virus will
reach a fuller success. Meanwhile I would call on anthropologists to
define the meaning of colonisation and decolonisation. Homo sapiens,
out of Africa, colonised five continents; Near Eastern Neolithic
farmers colonised the hunter-gatherers of Europe; Phoenicians
colonised half of the Mediterranean shores; Europeans colonised
America and Australia; Polynesians colonised thousands of islands in
the Pacific; Islam colonised 1/4th of humanity; Christianity colonised
another 1/4th. The history of humanity is a history of colonisation.
And history cannot take us back. What would happen if Australia and
America would be decolonised and returned to the native people? And
what would happen if Europe would be returned to the hunter-gatherer’s
clans of prehistory? And what would happen if the planet would be
decolonised of the human colonisation? Yes, human nature is that of
coloniser. Should this create a guilt complex? Without colonisation
history would not exist, culture would not evolve, the bipedal ape
would have remained in an enclave of the central African bush and
perhaps disappeared long ago. Colonisation is the alternative to
extinction: for viruses as for humans.  Can a virus decolonise the
planet from humans? Do not be so sure that it would be impossible. The
main point is how to decolonise the virus: its colonisation is
disturbing human colonisation. Of course, it is vital, for the
survival of the human heritage, for the wisdom of all, to preserve,
not only, also learn, know and understand, as much as possible, of
traditions, customs and beliefs of cultural patterns that risk to
disappear. It is vital also to avoid that traditional knowledge is not
forgotten. But could an African or Inuit or Khoi colonised Christian
go back to totemic cults? Eliminating the eternal natural human trend
of colonisation does not seem possible: it would mean stopping culture
and evolution. It could be a utopic dream.
No doubts: you will give your course an open-minded broad overview.
Best wishes and cordial regards,
Emmanuel






Il giorno gio 23 apr 2020 alle ore 00:42 Olivia Barnett-Naghshineh
<[log in to unmask]> ha scritto:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Just to let you know that the 10 week short course 'Decolonising Anthropology: Why and How it Matters" will be starting again next Wednesday and will be taught online (6.30pm-8.30pm). More info here: https://www.gold.ac.uk/short-courses/decolonising-anthropology/
>
> Please share widely amongst friends, students and colleagues who might be interested and feel free to get in touch with any questions or queries.
>
> Many thanks and take care,
>
> Olivia
>
> Olivia Barnett-Naghshineh, PhD
> Associate Lecturer and Short Course Convenor (Masters of Sex: Feminisms, Media Sexuality and the Archive; Decolonising Anthropology: Why and How it Matters)
> Goldsmiths, University of London
> @livsit
> ****************************************************************
>
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AM is used to communicate with postgraduate & postdoctoral anthropologists
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anthropology community such as conferences and seminars or funding opportunities.

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Anthropology Matters is a network of the ASA, who administer this list.

AM is used to communicate with postgraduate & postdoctoral anthropologists
working in the UK and abroad to provide alerts to: new issues of the Open Access
Anthropology Matters journal, and events of anthropological interest in the UK
anthropology community such as conferences and seminars or funding opportunities.

To join the ASA click here.

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