Decolonial Philosophies Collaboratory
presents the conference
Decolonization & Global Justice
22nd, 23rd, 24th of January, 2026
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Call for Participation
Decolonization and Global Justice will be a three-day, transdisciplinary conference that brings together decolonial, postcolonial, anticolonial, Indigenous and anti-imperial feminist perspectives on contemporary global crises.
We invite critical interventions against ongoing injustices, such as extractivism and exploitation in the Global South, genocide and displacement of Indigenous peoples around the world, the disproportional impacts of ecological degradation, and the transnational afterlives of slavery and colonization.
The complexity of these intertwined situations requires diverse perspectives, including those situated outside of traditional academic formats. We take a transdisciplinary approach that brings together academic and non-academic contributions, including traditional scholarly presentations, artistic interventions, experimental workshops, and other forms of community-based knowledge production.
Topics may include but are not limited to:
- Genocide, settler colonialism, and resistance.
- Indigenous struggles for land and sovereignty.
- Colonial extraction & environmental destruction.
- Feminist perspectives from the Global South.
- Neocolonialism in Africa, Asia, & the Americas.
- Geopolitics of knowledge production.
- Borders and migration.
- Militarism, carcerality & prison abolition.
- Transformative & restorative justice.
Keynote speakers:
Dr. Nada Elia is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Western Washington specializing in transnational, decolonial, and gender struggles, with a focus on Arab America and Palestine. As a scholar-activist, Dr. Elia is a member of the Palestinian Feminist Collective and the author of Greater than the Sum of Our Parts: Feminism, Inter/Nationalism, and Palestine, Palestine: Un feminism de liberation, as well as Trances, Dances, and Vociferations: Agency and Resistance in Africana Women’s Narratives, and is currently completing a third single-authored book, Falastiniyyat: A Century of Palestinian Feminisms.
Dr. Nnimmo Bassey is director of the ecological think-tank Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and member of the steering committee of Oilwatch International. He is the former chair of Friends of the Earth International (2008-2012) and Executive Director of Nigeria’s Environmental Rights Action (1993-2013). His books include We Thought it Was Oil, But It was Blood, I will Not Dance to Your Beat, To Cook a Continent: Destructive Extraction and the Climate Crisis in Africa, and Oil Politics: Echoes of Ecological War.
Kalonji Jama Changa is an organizer and founder of the FTP Movement, an author of Revolution in These Times and co-author of Beyond Cop Cities. He is also the founder of Black Power Media, serves as co-chair of the Urban Survival and Preparedness Institute and is a consultant with For the People, LLC.
Jenipher Jones is a civil movement and human rights attorney and Managing Attorney of For the People, LLC. Jones currently joint chairs the Mass Incarceration Committee of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), serves on the Board of Directors of the Faculty of Federal Advocates (FFA), is a board member of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL). Jones represents and works with several political prisoners in the United States, including Leonard Peltier and Eric King, who have both been freed from prison during her representation.
Submission instructions:
For individual | For panel proposals: | For workshop and artistic workshop proposals: |
1. Individual presentations will be 20 minutes long. 2. Send a pdf of your paper title and abstract (350 – 500 words). 3. Include relevant personal identifying information (i.e., name, email, title, institutional affiliation, organization, etc.) in the submission email and NOT in the abstract document. 4. Please specify if the modality of the presentation will be in-person or remote, and if it will be in a language other than English.
| 1. Panels are made up of 3 to 4 members and will be given a total of 60 minutes to present. 2. The chair of the panel will submit a pdf document of the title and abstract (350 – 500 words). 3. Each panelist will also provide their individual abstracts (~200 words) in the same pdf document as the panel abstract. 4. Please include the relevant personal identifying information (i.e., name email, title, institutional affiliation, organization, etc.) of each panelist in the submission email and NOT in the abstract document. 5. Please specify if the modality of the presentation will be in-person or hybrid (i.e., some panelists in-person, some remote) and if it will be in a language other than English. | 1. Workshops will be from 30 to 60 minutes long. 2. Send a pdf of your workshop abstract (350 – 500 words) which includes the title, topic of the workshop, the planned activities, and an explanation of contribution and how it relates to the theme of the conference. 3. Include relevant personal identifying information (i.e., name, email, title, institutional affiliation, organization, etc.) in the submission email and NOT in the abstract document. 4. Workshop and artistic workshop presentations will be expected to be held in-person. |
Remote presentation via Zoom will be considered for individuals who cannot travel to the University of Oregon. Please indicate in the submission of the proposal if the modality is in-person or remote. We are committed to providing some limited travel funding to those who need it. The amount will depend on our budget availability and the number of participants requesting this support. If you would like to be considered for travel funding, please mention your interest in your submission.
Presentations in languages other than English will be considered upon availability of language translators and interpreters. Please submit your abstract in English and indicate in the submission of the proposal the language of your presentation.
Send submissions to decolonialphilosophies@gmail.com with “Decolonization & Global Justice Proposal” as the subject of the email. We will only consider one submission per aplicant.
The deadline for submissions is June 30th, 2025, at 11:59pm PST.
Participants will receive an email with our decision by August 1st, 2025.
We look forward to reading your submissions. If you have any questions regarding the submission process, the conference, or would like to express concerns regarding accessibility and accommodations, please reach out to the email provided above. If accepted to the conference and you plan to attend in-person, please begin to make the relevant travel preparations with your sponsoring institution or organization.
Sincerely,
The Decolonial Philosophies Collaboratory, University of Oregon
In collaboration with,
The University of Oregon Global Justice Program
The Oregon State University Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
The University of Oregon Department of Philosophy
The University of Oregon School of Global Studies and Languages
The National Lawyers Guild Review
The University of Oregon Radical Organizing Activist Resource Center
