Postcolonial Governmentalities Workshop
1st – 2nd September 2015, Cardiff University
Spatial Practices of Postcolonial Governance: Inequalities, Exclusions and Potentials
Spatial practices of governance were used as a colonial tool to regulate populations in multiple ways, from the control of migration to the demarcation and spatial restriction of groups according to categories of race and religion. These practices resonate today through the institutionalisation of surveillance mechanisms, exclusionary urban gentrification, and migration policies that secure the movement of populations within and across borders. Examining these urban technologies of regulation can help us understand the power dynamics that shape various transnational inequalities and social divisions. These spatial practices of governance also draw on and reflect complex political landscapes that influence processes of identity-formation, shaping meanings of citizenship and notions of difference. At the same time, in discussing governance, we must consider the negotiations of power that emerge through forms of resistance and counter-conduct in relation to these unequal spatial practices. Finally, while spatial governance is often critically discussed as an undesirable exertion of authority, this should not foreclose the productive, and indeed emancipatory, potentials of governance.
The keynote speech will be delivered by Joanne Sharp (University of Glasgow) and the workshop will conclude with a roundtable chaired by Ambreena Manji (Cardiff University), with panelists that include Robbie Shilliam (QMUL), Laura Routley (Newcastle University), Simon Philpott (Newcastle University), Mark Jackson (University of Bristol), and Paul Bowman (Cardiff University).
This workshop is sponsored by the Cardiff University’s Department of Politics and International Relations, as well as the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
The deadline for registration has now closed but there are still spaces available if you would like to attend the methods cafe on 1st September. Do let us know as soon as possible as spaces are limited.
If you have any questions please email Terri-Anne Teo and Elisa Wynne-Hughes at terrianne.teo@bristol.ac.uk and WynneHughesE@cardiff.ac.uk.
Postcolonial Governmentality 