University College Dublin

Why is the Black Lives Matter movement so necessary and, for many, so threatening? How can Europeans disavow migrants from their own former colonies who seek refuge on their shores? What is intersectional activism? What is necessary to cultivate veritable solidarity across differences? How can we imagine, think and act beyond the constraints of the western, state-centred status quo?

Well over 100 years ago W.E.B. DuBois warned that the colour-line would constitute the defining issue of the 20th century. The 21st is already noteworthy for the deepening impunity of state and everyday violence towards 'minorities' of all persuasions. It is also increasingly characterised by large scale political surges to the extreme right, which have been empowered by mass incitement to hatred through the vilification of migrants. Why and how has 'race' played so central a role in these conditions and the extraordinary acts of resistance engaged to transform them? Why does a chronic lack of public knowledge concerning the social, political and economic histories fostering them continue to undermine effective collective action and positive change?

This unique programme examines the global historical legacies and entanglements of colonialism, imperialism and neoliberalism as they underpin these and other contemporary injustices exacted upon the vulnerable, the precarious, the stigmatised. In the tradition of black feminist, critical race and decolonial perspectives, the theories and practices of scholars, cultural workers and activists of colour and other 'others' constitute central components of its pedagogy.

For further details see: https://www.racemigrationdecolonialstudies.com/

Students will build on core modules in critical race and decolonial scholarship, global migration and creative art/research practices, with optional modules available from across a range of disciplines, literatures and societal issues. The minor dissertation project is an opportunity for students to further develop conceptual frameworks, methodologies and forms of knowledge mobilisation for use in their chosen fields and sectors – whether academic, activist, art, practitioner and/or policy focused.