The Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies (formerly CACLALS)

Annual Conference — 4-6 June, 2026

Hybrid Format — In-Person & Online Presentations Welcome

Proposal Deadline: December 31, 2026
Location, Montreal (TBA)
Keynote Speaker(s) TBA

Conference theme: Postcolonial Freedom(s)
The last decade’s geopolitical upheavals have provoked urgent questions about political freedom.
Indeed, words like “autocracy,” “totalitarianism,” and “fascism” pepper contemporary scholarship and
everyday discussion as some global leaders spurn the rules-based order of the postwar era. Vladimir
Putin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine betrays his expansionist ambitions; Narendra Modi’s aggression
against Kashmir and Pakistan echoes his Bharatiya Janata Party’s orthodox Hindu ethic; the genocide in
Gaza has sparked worldwide outrage with no meaningful global intervention; ICE raids, electoral
gerrymandering, and Donald Trump’s tariff war contradict America as a “land of the free.”
As big questions about freedom—or its decline—occupy our everyday lives, this year’s Canadian
Association for Postcolonial Studies conference revisits claims about “postcolonial freedom” to ask how
the legacies, failures, and successes of anticolonial liberation might illuminate our current predicament.
Frantz Fanon, for instance, differentiated between national bourgeoisie, urban proletariat, peasant, and
lumpenproletariat struggles by colonized actors, a distinction further nuanced in the Indian context
(albeit to great controversy) by the Subaltern Studies Group in the latter decades of the twentieth
century. After colonial withdrawal, Structural Adjustment Programs by the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund in former African colonies dictated who enjoys economic freedom and who does not
(Ferguson). The Cold War imposed upon the world a narrative of “consensus” and “freedom” mandated
by American foreign policy. Western assumptions about freedom changed, again, after the 9/11 attacks
and subsequent War on Terror, while the 2008 banking collapse and Eurozone crisis threw free market
neoliberalism into disarray. The COVID pandemic produced a whole different set of impingements on
freedom, and the refugee crisis of the last decade raises urgent questions about forced vs. free
movement. The Trump administration’s sanctioning of UN special rapporteur for the occupied territories,
Francesca Albanese, for her support of Palestinian rights is but the latest expression of a longstanding
and bipartisan “supremacist logic” at the heart of American foreign policy (Speri).

As we wade into uncertain geopolitical territory—to say nothing of how catastrophic climate change and
AI further destabilize our world—this conference invites participants to explore how postcolonial studies
can complicate our received notions about “freedom.” What sorts of freedoms do we prioritize in a given
historical moment, and who stands to gain or lose from them? How do our assumptions about freedom
shift according to a given context, and how can postcolonial studies help us navigate and critique those
shifts? In what ways do we conceive of freedoms like sovereignty, expression, or movement? What of
the tension between rights and responsibilities? What happens when the uncritical embrace of
“freedom” leads to the ugliest expressions of political violence and, indeed, unfreedom?
Suggested topics include (though are not limited to):
● Formal/aesthetic strategies that engage with “postcolonial freedom” in any medium
● Freedom in postcolonial science fiction; Afrofuturism; speculative fiction; etc.
● Slavery, indentured labour, and abolition narratives
● Colonial/postcolonial prison writing
● Representations of freedom in narratives involving postcolonial ecology or more-than-human
animals
● Refugee and migrant narratives
● Indigenous sovereignty, rights, and self-determination in any medium
● Freedom and its role in the arts and artistic creation
● Freedom and pedagogy
● Freedom of thought, expression, and political agency
● Interdisciplinary freedom(s)
● Freedom within spaces, places, borders, boundaries, and states
● Affective freedom(s), gendered freedom(s), sexual freedom(s) in global South contexts
● Artificial Intelligence and postcolonial freedom(s)

Submission Information
We welcome submissions in a wide range of formats, including—but not limited to—15–20 minute
academic papers, member-organized panels or roundtables, creative and multimedia works (such as
poetry, performance, and film), collaborative presentations, storytelling sessions, workshops, and digital
or experimental formats. Proposals may come from scholars, artists, educators, and activists across
disciplines and career stages. Please fill out the submission form here

Submission Guidelines:
Submit a proposal of no more than 350 words using the online [CAPS 2026 Proposal Submission Form]
by December 31, 2025.
Please Include:
● Title and format of your proposed presentation
● Your name and institutional affiliation (if applicable)

● Contact email
● A 50-word abstract for the conference program
● A short biographical note
● Your preference for in-person or online participation
● Any required audio/visual or media needs
If you are a graduate student and wish to be considered for the Graduate Student Presentation Prize,
please indicate this on your form. Your submission will automatically be reviewed by the prize
committee.
Membership and Registration
All presenters must be CAPS members in good standing by February 20, 2026 to be included in the final
program. Memberships can be renewed or registered through the CAPS website. Conference registration
details and fees will be announced shortly.
For questions related to proposals, membership, or registration, please contact:
caps2026conference@gmail.com

The Canadian Association for Postcolonial Studies (formerly CACLALS) Annual Conference — 4-6 June, 2026 Hybrid Format — In-Person & Online Presentations Welcome Proposal Deadline: December 31, 2026Location, Montreal (TBA)Keynote Speaker(s) TBA Conference theme: Postcolonial Freedom(s)The last decade’s geopolitical upheavals have provoked urgent questions about political freedom.Indeed, words like “autocracy,” “totalitarianism,” and “fascism” pepper contemporary scholarship andeveryday discussion as some global leaders spurn the rules-based order of the postwar era. VladimirPutin’s unprovoked war on Ukraine betrays his expansionist ambitions; Narendra Modi’s aggressionagainst Kashmir and Pakistan echoes his Bharatiya Janata Party’s orthodox Hindu ethic; the genocide inGaza has sparked worldwide outrage with no meaningful global intervention; ICE raids, electoralgerrymandering, and Donald Trump’s tariff war contradict America as a “land of the free.”As big questions about freedom—or its decline—occupy our everyday lives, this year’s CanadianAssociation for Postcolonial Studies conference revisits claims about “postcolonial freedom” to ask howthe legacies, failures, and successes of anticolonial liberation might illuminate our current predicament.Frantz Fanon, for instance, differentiated between national bourgeoisie, urban proletariat, peasant, andlumpenproletariat struggles by colonized actors, a distinction further nuanced in the Indian context(albeit to great controversy) by the Subaltern Studies Group in the latter decades of the twentiethcentury. After colonial withdrawal, Structural Adjustment Programs by the World Bank and InternationalMonetary Fund in former African colonies dictated who enjoys economic freedom and who does not(Ferguson). The Cold War imposed upon the world a narrative of “consensus” and “freedom” mandatedby American foreign policy. Western assumptions about freedom changed, again, after the 9/11 attacksand subsequent War on Terror, while the 2008 banking collapse and Eurozone crisis threw free marketneoliberalism into disarray. The COVID pandemic produced a whole different set of impingements onfreedom, and the refugee crisis of the last decade raises urgent questions about forced vs. freemovement. The Trump administration’s sanctioning of UN special rapporteur for the occupied territories,Francesca Albanese, for her support of Palestinian rights is but the latest expression of a longstandingand bipartisan “supremacist logic” at the heart of American foreign policy (Speri). As we wade into uncertain geopolitical territory—to say nothing of how catastrophic climate change andAI further destabilize our world—this conference invites participants to explore how postcolonial studiescan complicate our received notions about “freedom.” What sorts of freedoms do we prioritize in a givenhistorical moment, and who stands to gain or lose from them? How do our assumptions about freedomshift according to a given context, and how can postcolonial studies help us navigate and critique thoseshifts? In what ways do we conceive of freedoms like sovereignty, expression, or movement? What ofthe tension between rights and responsibilities? What happens when the uncritical embrace of“freedom” leads to the ugliest expressions of political violence and, indeed, unfreedom?Suggested topics include (though are not limited to):● Formal/aesthetic strategies that engage with “postcolonial freedom” in any medium● Freedom in postcolonial science fiction; Afrofuturism; speculative fiction; etc.● Slavery, indentured labour, and abolition narratives● Colonial/postcolonial prison writing● Representations of freedom in narratives involving postcolonial ecology or more-than-humananimals● Refugee and migrant narratives● Indigenous sovereignty, rights, and self-determination in any medium● Freedom and its role in the arts and artistic creation● Freedom and pedagogy● Freedom of thought, expression, and political agency● Interdisciplinary freedom(s)● Freedom within spaces, places, borders, boundaries, and states● Affective freedom(s), gendered freedom(s), sexual freedom(s) in global South contexts● Artificial Intelligence and postcolonial freedom(s) Submission InformationWe welcome submissions in a wide range of formats, including—but not limited to—15–20 minuteacademic papers, member-organized panels or roundtables, creative and multimedia works (such aspoetry, performance, and film), collaborative presentations, storytelling sessions, workshops, and digitalor experimental formats. Proposals may come from scholars, artists, educators, and activists acrossdisciplines and career stages. Please fill out the submission form here Submission Guidelines:Submit a proposal of no more than 350 words using the online [CAPS 2026 Proposal Submission Form]by December 31, 2025.Please Include:● Title and format of your proposed presentation● Your name and institutional affiliation (if applicable) ● Contact email● A 50-word abstract for the conference program● A short biographical note● Your preference for in-person or online participation● Any required audio/visual or media needsIf you are a graduate student and wish to be considered for the Graduate Student Presentation Prize,please indicate this on your form. Your submission will automatically be reviewed by the prizecommittee.Membership and RegistrationAll presenters must be CAPS members in good standing by February 20, 2026 to be included in the finalprogram. Memberships can be renewed or registered through the CAPS website. Conference registrationdetails and fees will be announced shortly.For questions related to proposals, membership, or registration, please contact:caps2026conference@gmail.com