The Decolonization and Afterlives of Fanon Conference – an outgrowth of the Afterlives of Fanon Research Collective and working group –  aims to provide a forum for graduate scholarship on Fanon’s work. Our interest in Fanon emerges from collective concerns over the enduring resonances between the colonial situations from which he wrote and our current moment of crisis: both his conditions and our own are defined by colonial realities which engender different forms of anti-colonial struggle. The various currents of anti-colonial struggle that animated the debates of Fanon’s time were inflected by questions of sovereignty, nationalism, and the changing role of empire across the Third World. Contemporary manifestations of colonialism orient us toward different horizons of possibility for liberation and demand a different set of questions toward this end. These differences are what propel us to use the word “afterlives,” by which we mean an examination of Fanon’s thinking in relation to our moment—both in its relevance and limitations—as well as the way changing historical demands retroactively shape the way we read Fanon. 

This conference aims to explore the ways Fanon's writings inform our contemporary questions, though these questions can be applied beyond analyses of our present conditions. We encourage proposals interested in stretching the scope of Fanonian thinking to translate the movement of Fanon's work from its points of origin to its afterlives across new contexts. The conference discussion will be organized by three main themes: (1) Lived Experiences of Blackness, (2) Post-, Anti-, and De-Colonial Theory, and (3) Humanism and Universality after Decolonization. We especially welcome submissions engaging with: 

• Gender and sexuality in Fanon’s work

• Transnational experiences and/or engagements with Blackness 

• Limits and productive analytical tensions in Fanon’s oeuvre

The conference will take place on May 10, 2024 on UC Berkeley’s campus and will be keynoted by Dr. Sophia Azeb, Assistant Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz. The conference is co-sponsored by Berkeley Black Geographies, Social Science Matrix, Townsend Center for the Humanities, and Center for Race and Gender. The event is free to attend and open to the public; more details on the conference schedule and location will follow on our website.

Please submit abstracts between 300-500 words to https://bit.ly/3UTOAB1 by Monday, April 1, 2024. We can offer limited travel support to local attendees; participants outside of the Bay Area may join us over Zoom.