Centre for Modern European Studies (CEMES) and the Department of History of the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology (Lund University) invites you to attend the one-day international workshop.

For decades, the themes of anticolonialism, postcolonialism and decolonization have been discussed and debated mainly in the context of the decolonizing practices of the so-called Global South’s countries and have been developed in the spirit of the ideology of the Bandung Conference (1955). However, in our time, the influence of the discourse of decolonization extends far beyond the Global South. In fact, it is becoming a new decolonization movement, which is associated with the transformation of the goals of historical and cultural policies in many countries. This movement was given particular impetus by the start of Russian armed aggression against Ukraine. One of its theoretical results has been methodological changes in the study of Eastern European countries and the space of the former Soviet Union. For example, the idea of the Soviet Union as a colonial state was not common until recently, but it has now become very popular in post-Soviet studies.

A new decolonization movement could not have taken place without a reinterpretation of the meaning of the terms ‘colonialism’ and ‘decolonization,’ that is, an expansion of their original meanings. Not surprisingly, such a reinterpretation of terms has already met with a critical reaction from a number of European leftist intellectuals and thinkers from the Global South. They fear that the new wave of decolonization will undermine the goals and objectives of the anti-colonial movements that emerged in the twentieth century and that decolonization will turn from the content of political struggle into its instrument. The latter is particularly noticeable when leaders like Vladimir Putin use anti-colonial rhetoric to justify and legitimize their foreign policies.
The idea of the workshop is to facilitate and stimulate discussion among scholars from different disciplines on issues related to the decolonization movement. The seminar will examine its theoretical basis, practices, and possible political, and theoretical outcomes. 
The following topics are planned for discussion:

• Colonialism: is the search for a new definition.
• Decolonization and reinterpretation of colonialism and colonial heritage.
• Decolonization and (in)justice.
• Decolonization: the Left versus the Right.
• A critical response to the new decolonization movement. 
• Soviet as colonial, post-Soviet as postcolonial.
• Trends in post-Soviet politics of memory: decommunization, decolonization, and de-Westernization.
• Colonization, decolonization and Central and East European countries.

The workshop will take place on 1 November at 9.30 a.m. (C214, LUX, Helgonavägen 3, 223 62 Lund).

Organisers: Denys Kirhyukhin, Lund University, Per Anders Rudling, Lund University, Odeta Rudling, Lund University.