Specialist Course | Decolonial and Postcolonial Perspectives on the Eastern (of) Europe

About the course

The course aims to advance postcolonial and decolonial critiques from a Central and Eastern European (CEE) standpoint to overcome the epistemic dichotomy of West versus East, North vs. South prevailing in the Western academic canon. By discussing theoretical perspectives grounded in empirically rigorous qualitative research brought by (international) specialists in the field and Ph.D. students researching this region, the course participants will engage with Eastern Europe/post-socialism/the Global East as an analytical liminal space and its relation to the EUrope.

Target audience

Ph.D. and Postdoctoral students of Social and Political Sciences interested in studying the Global East or the so-called post-Soviet space.

Aims

1. Attendees will become better acquainted with the study area canonically known as post-socialist studies and the emerging postcolonial and decolonial critiques on the subject.
2. Attendees will obtain a nuanced and critical understanding of certain multidisciplinary research strands emerging on the subject while paying particular attention to globalisation, coloniality, mobility, questions of race, gender and intersectionality.
3. Attendees will meet and be able to exchange with the specialists in the field and draw on and apply or critique their insights via their own work.
4. Through interactive course format, lectures, and core readings, attendees will grasp some core alternative methodologies aimed at ‘decolonise’ the study area and engage in self-reflexive knowledge production.
5. Attendees will strengthen their presentation skills, discussion and critical thinking while engaging in discussion and presenting their own work.

Programme

17 October (DAY 1): Language, knowledge production and representation (co-hosted with UNU-CRIS)

This session will address the epistemic gap of Eastern European perspectives and perspectives from the Global East in Western academia. We will grapple with the terms ‘Eastern Europe’, ‘post-socialism,’ and ‘Global East’  as well as with what postcolonial and decolonial means in this context and what effects their usage has on knowledge production. The discussion will touch upon how Eastern European/post-socialist studies emerged as a field and what it would mean to decolonise this study area. We will also discuss what it essentially means to study the areas of the world marked by intersecting imperial and anti-imperial histories.

• 10: 00 – 12: 00 – Keynote by Prof. Dr. Grazina Bielousova (UCL) - location De Blauwe Vogel room, de Krook library (Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Gent)
  • Chair: Prof. Dr. Ine Lietaert (Ghent University) Discussant: Prof. Dr. Jan Orbie (Ghent University)
• 13:00 – 15:30 Presentations from the Ph.D. students + discussion - location Tecnicum (Sint- Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent)
  • Chair: Prof. Dr. Ine Lietaert (Ghent University)

18 October (DAY 2): Theme: migration, coloniality and racism (co-hosted with CESSMIR)

This session will invite us to think about the European Eastern ‘periphery’ as, first of all, an analytical and not a geographical space, structured through omnipresent coloniality defining its social, economic, cultural, and affective relationships. In this session, we will address such topics as racism, migration, and the European Eastern region’s relationship with the EUrope.

• 10: 00 – 12: 00 – Keynote by Prof. Dr. Dace Dzenovska (University of Oxford) - location De Blauwe Vogel room, de Krook library (Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Gent)
  • Chair: Prof. Dr. Sorana Toma (Ghent University) Discussant: Prof. Dr. Robin Vandevoordt (Ghent University)
• 13:00 – 15:30 Presentations from the Ph.D. students + discussion - location Tecnicum (Sint- Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent)
  • Chair: Prof. Dr. Robin Vandevoordt

19 October (DAY 3): Feminist critique, intersectionality, and decolonial methodologies

The doctoral school seeks to engage not only in deconstructive critique but also as an exercise of affirmation, providing space for alternative imaginaries and alternative futures in the making. This session will focus on the feminist, queer, and intersectional approaches as well as decolonial methods and activist scholarship emerging in the region.

• 10: 00 – 12: 00 – Keynote by Prof. Dr. Madina Tlostanova (Linköping University) - location De Blauwe Vogel room, de Krook library (Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Gent)
  • Chair: Julija Kekstaite (Ghent University) Discussant: Dr. Laura Luciani (Ghent University)
• 13:00 – 15:30 Presentations from the Ph.D. students + discussion - location Tecnicum (Sint- Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent)
  • Chairs: Anita Khachaturova (ULB) and Coline Maestracci (ULB)
• 17: 30- 19:00 FILM SCREENINGS - programme tbc

20 October (DAY 4):  A Way Forward, Beyond Essentialisation (co-hosted with EUROGLOT)

With this doctoral school, we want to plant a seed for an ongoing exchange of perspectives and ideas by including scholarship on and from the so-called Global East. However, avoiding the trap of re- essentialising the region, we seek to point out that its liminal position has potential overlaps with other epistemically marginalised areas in the world, such as the Global South. Therefore, we will invite the participants to think relationally and historically, this way opening a way for unexpected dialogues and future projects.

• 10: 00 – 12: 00 – Dialogue between Szilvia Nagy (CEU) and Prof. Dr Madina Tlostanova(Linköping University) - location Zaal Haas en Vos, de Krook library (Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Gent)
  • Chair: Prof. Dr. Ine Lietaert (Ghent University) Discussant: Prof. Dr. Aude Merlin (ULB)
• 13:00 –  16:00  Presentations from the Ph.D. students + discussion - location Tecnicum (Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Gent)
  • Chair: Prof. Dr. Frank Mattheis (UNU- CRIS)

Closing remarks: Prof. Dr. Ine Lietaert (Ghent University)

Full Programme - here

Practical

• To enroll in the course, you need to use this link to register by 30 August 2023. 
• Dates and venue: 17-20 October 2023. Ghent University premises (see for room details in the programme).
• Contact hours: 20
• Price: course free of charge
• Format: Four morning lectures and four afternoon seminars where students are encouraged to present their work. A close reading of assigned texts will be required. 
• Certificate of attendance: Ph.D. students are expected to actively take part in at least 3 out of 4 training days. This program is part of Ghent University Doctoral School Programme, Researchers from other universities should check at their own institutions if this course can be recognised as part of their doctoral training. 

Organising bodies

The specialist course is co-organised with the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), the EUROGLOT Research network, the Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees (CESSMIR) and the EurEast platform. 

Organising Committee

• Co-ordinators: Prof. Dr. Ine Lietaert (Ghent University; UNU- CRIS), Julija Kekstaite (Ghent University; CESSMIR)
• Other members: Prof. Dr. Aude Merlin (ULB), Szilvia Nagi (CEU; Euroglot), Prof. Dr. Robin Vandevoordt (Ghent University; CESSMIR), Dr. Floor Verhaeghe (Ghent University; CESSMIR), Prof. Dr. Sorana Toma (Ghent University; CESSMIR), Prof. Dr. Fabienne Bossuyt (Ghent University; EurEast Platform), Anna Sashchenko (Ghent University; EurEast), Gaëlle le Pavic (Ghent University; UNU-CRIS), Dr. Laura Luciani (Ghent University). 
• Contact for inquiries: Julija Kekstaite - julija.kekstaite@UGent.be