Intersectional Colonialities: Embodied Colonial Violence and Practices of Resistance at the Axis of Disability, Race, Indigeneity, Class, and Gender

 

Book launch with Dr. Robel Afeworki Abay, hosted by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing

Please join us for the virtual book launch for “Intersectional Colonialities: Embodied Colonial Violence and Practices of Resistance at the Axis of Disability, Race, Indigeneity, Class, and Gender” (external link)  with Dr. Robel Afeworki Abay hosted by Dr. Karen Soldatic, Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing. The book launch will be followed by a Panel Discussion by Dr. Sharin Shajahan Naomi, Dr. Alexis Padilla, and Dr. Lynn Rose. This event is free and open to the public.

 

Abstract

“This book provides a rich synthesis of empirical research and theoretical engagements with questions of disability across different practices of colonialism as historically defined – post/de/anti/settler colonialism.

It synthesises, critiques, and expands the boundaries of existing disability research which has been undertaken within different colonial contexts through the rich examination of recent empirical work mapping across disability and its intersectional colonialities. Filling an existing gap within the international literature through embedding the importance of grounding these within scholarly debates of colonialism, it empirically demonstrates the significance of disability for the broader scholarly fields of postcolonial, decolonial, and intersectional theories.

It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, sociology, critical studies, sociology of race and ethic relations, intersectionality, postcolonial and decolonial studies, and human geography.”

 

Biographies

Dr. Robel Afeworki Abay, Guest Professor, Participatory Approaches in the Social and Health Sciences, Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences

 

Dr. Robel Afeworki Abay is sociologist and Black Queer Disability Justice activist. In his participatory PhD project at the Humboldt University of Berlin, he critically examined the Intersectional Colonialities of Ableism and Racism in the context of labour market participation of Disabled BIPoC in Germany (Transcript 2023). He is currently working as a Guest Professor of Participatory Approaches in the Social and Health Sciences at Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin. He has recently co-edited an international volume with Karen Soldatic: Intersectional Colonialities: Embodied Colonial Violence and Practices of Resistance at the Axis of Disability, Race, Indigeneity, Class, and Gender (Routledge 2024). Previously, he has worked as a research associate at the Institute of Sociology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany. Robel has studied Sociology and Political Science at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia and Cardiff University, Wales, UK, and Social Work in Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Kassel, Germany. Robel is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Network, Intersectional Disability Justice (IDJ) (external link) 

 

Dr. Sharin Shajahan Naomi, Assistant Professor, Independent University of Bangladesh (joining June 2024)

Sharin Shajahan Naomi is an experienced researcher, academic, social worker and public speaker with multiple publications under her name. Her awards and grants include the Australian Leadership Award 2010, the Cornell Climate Online Fellowship, and the DHS (Demographic Health Survey) Fellowship by the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2019. In 2024, Naomi will complete a postdoctoral fellowship at KREA University of India and join the Independent University of Bangladesh as an assistant professor. 

Naomi holds a PhD from Murdoch University, Australia, as well as a Master of Arts in Human Rights from the Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin University. She completed her Bachelor of Law from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Naomi has more than ten years of research experience in the fields of law, human rights, gender, good governance, violence against women, Indigenous rights, disability, feminism and anti-feminist backlash. She has five years of teaching experience at Asian University for Women, where she served as the head of the core program for a year. Forbes China featured a story on her teaching on Ecofeminism. She has also worked for BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health in Bangladesh. She is the chairperson of the youth organisation ‘Actionist Bangladesh’ which works to promote mental health awareness.

Dr. Alexis Padilla, Lawyer, Sociologist, Theologian and Educator

 

Dr. Alexis Padilla is a disabled lawyer, sociologist, theologian and educator born and raised in the Global South. His first solo book, "Disability, Intersectional Agency and Latinx Identity," was published by Routledge in 2021. Dr. Padilla’s most recent volume is currently under contract with the title "Decolonial Disability and Social Epistemologies."

As scholar and disability activist, Dr. Padilla pursues a blend of actionable ideas and interdisciplinary theories which aim to enhance intersectional disability justice and decolonial projects helpful in bridging Global North and Global South contexts toward cross-coalitional movement building and emancipatory
learning endeavours.

 

Dr. Lynn Rose, Professor of History and Disability Studies in the Social Sciences, American University of Sulaimani

 

Dr. Lynn Rose joined the faculty at the American University of Sulaimani, Iraq in 2016, following twenty years as a teacher-scholar in the U.S. and Germany. She serves as Professor of History and Disability Studies in the Social Sciences at AUIS. Her earlier scholarship focused on Disability Studies in the ancient Graeco-Roman world. More recently, her interest has shifted to Disability Studies in the contemporary Global South.

 

Registration

Please register here. (external link, opens in new window) 

Accessibility

Live captioning will be provided on Zoom. 

For questions and access inquiries please contact Tarndeep Pannu by May 30th, 2024.