Confronting Hierarchies: A Podcast on Decoloniality, Peace, and Conflict

In Episode 3, we will explore what it means to challenge (post)colonial hierarchies in the classroom together with Amya Agarwal and Swati Parashar. The classroom is a space which can serve to promote critical thinking, a space that not only provides the possibility of reimagining the fundamentals of academic disciplines but that also allows for critical  students and radical scholarship to emerge and thrive. Bios: Amya Agarwal is a lecturer of International Relations at the University of Sheffield, UK. Prior to moving to the UK, she was a senior researcher at the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute, Freiburg, Germany (2021–2023) and a postdoctoral fellow in Duisburg, Germany (2019–2021). She received her PhD from the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, India in 2017. In the past, she has held teaching positions in the University of Delhi, South Asian University, University of Freiburg and University College Freiburg. Amya's research lies at the intersection of gender, conflict and security. In particular, she studies and writes about masculinities, motherhood, art and aesthetics in times of violence and resistance.   Swati Parashar is a Professor of Peace and Development at the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden. Her teaching and research have led to academic appointments and fellowships in India, Singapore, the UK, the US, Ireland, Australia, and Sweden. She has also taught at the University of Rwanda in Kigali and at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. Swati is a member of the Swedish Development Research Network and has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of SIDA. Her research interests include feminism, postcolonialism, research methodologies, gender-based violence, famines, and development in South Asia and East Africa. She has published numerous journal special issues, articles, policy papers, and popular media pieces. In 2025, she will be honored as the Distinguished Scholar of the Feminist Theory and Gender Studies Section at the ISA Convention in Chicago. Further Information and readings: bell hooks (1994): Teaching to transgress: education as the practice of freedom. New York and London. Routledge. Jenny Edkins: “Global Politics” as basis of Professor Parashar’s seminar Audre Lorde (1984): “Uses of the Erotic” Audre Lorde and bell hooks as central Black feminist scholars Swati Parashar (2016): “Feminism and Postcolonialism: (En)gendering Encounters” Swati Parashar (2017): “Feminism Meets Postcolonialism: Rethinking Gender, State and Political Violence” Conversation with J. Ann Tickner and Phillip Darby (2017) on “Feminism and Postcolonialism: The Twain Shall Meet”, edited by Swati Parashar; Video of the conversation Katherine Mayo (1927): “Mother India” as an instrument of Indian control and policing bodies Women Peace and Security Agenda (UN) promoting the idea of responsibility of Global North to save women. Adopted through Resolution 1325 by the UN Security Council in 2000. 1 in 5 Australian women face intimate partner violence: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Report on Personal Safety (2023) Chandra Talpade Mohanty and L. H. M. "Lily" Ling as postcolonial feminists Swati Parashar’s lecture on the coloniality and violence of famines in the Global South Peace Adzo Medie: a feminist and postcolonial scholar who discussed the question of why the burden of decolonising academics lies with non-Whites

In Episode 1, part 2 we discuss the Postcolonial Hierarchies Competence Network (which this podcast is a part of)  and the network’s project of confronting coloniality/modernity dynamics in peace and conflict studies with.... Siddharth Tripathi - Senior Research Fellow at University of Erfurt. As part of his research at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels, he has conducted extensive fieldwork in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Berlin and Brussels. He edited the Rowman and Littlefield Handbook on Peace and Conflict Studies: Perspectives from the Global South (s) which is a collaborative endeavour of scholars from the Global North and the Global South ...and Susanne Buckley-Zistel - Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and Executive Director of the Center for Conflict Studies at the Philipps University Marburg. Her main interests lie in (transitional) justice, memory, gender, space and post-colonialism. Links: Achille Mbembe in Decolonizing Knowledge and the Question of the Archive https://wiser.wits.ac.za/system/files/Achille%20Mbembe%20-%20Decolonizing%20Knowledge%20and%20the%20Question%20of%20the%20Archive.pdf  Agenda of Peace by Boutros Boutros Ghali (1992) as the foundation of the understanding of liberal peace (and development etc.) An agenda for peace : (un.org) Johan Galtung’s concepts of structural, cultural, and direct violence Short video of Johann Galtung explaining his concepts of violence - YouTube Stuart Hall: West/Rest-Dichotomy https://globalsocialtheory.org/thinkers/hall-stuart/ Stuart Hall (1992): The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power hal1995-westa (wordpress.com) Edward W. Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Homi Bhaba as scholars of Postcolonialism Postcolonialism – GLOBAL SOCIAL THEORY World Systems and Dependency Theory Development theory - Dependency, World Systems, Theories | Britannica Money Aníbal Quijano, Maria Lugones and Walter D. Mignolo as scholars of Decoloniality Decoloniality – GLOBAL SOCIAL THEORY Gurminder Bhambra (2011) (Gurminder K Bhambra – Gurminder K Bhambra (gkbhambra.net)) on postcolonial and decolonial dialogues Full article: Postcolonial and decolonial dialogues (tandfonline.com) “Theory is always for someone and for some purpose” - Robert W. Cox: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03058298810100020501  “Dealing with the Past and Reconciliation (Transitional Justice)” (2019)  https://transitionaljusticehub.org/glhimages/content/Interministerial-Strategy.pdf  Prof. Cori Wielenga from university of Pretoria who is working on an archive by female mediators Prof Cori Wielenga | University of Pretoria (up.ac.za) Paulo Freire on everybody’s responsibility to create a more just world Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Zinn Education Project (zinnedproject.org) Paulo Freire (1970), Pedagogy of the Oppressed  [Paulo_Freire]_Pedagogy_of_the_Oppressed(BookFi.org).pdf (amu.edu.et) Paulo Freire (1992), Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Paulo Freire · Pedagogy of Hope · Pedagogy for Change (pedagogy4change.org)+ Gloria Anzaldúa as a theorist of hope ANZALDÚA, Gloria E. – GLOBAL SOCIAL THEORY The episode was moderated by Abdul Karim Ibrahim  from the institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. We also want to thank our team behind the scenes for the collaboration and contributions. We want to thank Abdul Karim Ibrahim for the introduction to this episode, Aurelio Cossar for the illustration of the cover and Harry and Tom Parfitt for the Jingle. It was inspired by Sheriff Ghale’s piece called “Nni Yeli”.  For the preparation and recording of the podcast, we want to thank Miriam Bartelmann and Harry Parfitt. Furthermore we want to express our gratitude for the assistance on this podcast to Nora Wolf. The equipment was provided by the media center of the University library in Freiburg, while Florian Laurösch from Radio Dreyeckland postproduced the podcast - thank you for the help and collaboration.

Manuela Boatcă, a Professor of Sociology and Head of Global Studies at the University of Freiburg, discusses crucial themes around coloniality and knowledge production. She examines how sociology must confront its Eurocentric foundations and explores the complexities of knowledge influenced by colonial history. Boatcă advocates for a decolonial approach in academia, emphasizing the transformative potential of creativity and inclusivity. She highlights the urgent need for radical change in educational institutions to challenge colonial legacies and foster diverse perspectives.

Exploring the complexities of coloniality, decoloniality, and power dynamics with guest speakers. Redefining violence through a decolonial lens and highlighting the impact of coloniality on shaping attitudes. Navigating activism and academia in policy spaces, sharing personal experiences. Challenges in scaling initiatives and policy-making, reflecting on political disillusionment. Redefining peace and conflict in Latin America post-2005, emphasizing maintaining hope amidst limitations.