The conference aims to consider how Afroeuropean communities are shaped by the intersections of ‘race’ and ethnicity with other markers of identification such as gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, citizenship status, language… Informed by intersectional thinking and its rejection of unidimensional perspectives in activism, policy and research, the conference explores how diverse processes of privileging and discrimination interact, making for complex and dynamic experiences of what it means to be Afroeuropean. It acknowledges that the racial and ethnic alterity of Afroeuropeans intersects with other identities (e.g. male, female, queer, working class, religious, disabled, aged…) and specifically seeks to examine to what extent these intersections create new alignments and opportunities.

Argument

The 8th Biennial Afroeuropeans Network Conference “Intersectional Challenges in Afroeuropean Communities” will take place from 7 – 10 July 2021 in Brussels, the capital of Europe. Hosted by the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Free University Brussels/VUB), this conference is the result of a cooperation between scholars of different Belgian universities, artists and activists.

The conference aims to consider how Afroeuropean communities are shaped by the intersections of ‘race’ and ethnicity with other markers of identification such as gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, citizenship status, language… Informed by intersectional thinking (Combahee River Collective, 1979; hooks, 1981; Crenshaw 1989) and its rejection of unidimensional perspectives in activism, policy and research, the conference explores how diverse processes of privileging and discrimination interact, making for complex and dynamic experiences of what it means to be Afroeuropean. It acknowledges that the racial and ethnic alterity of Afroeuropeans intersects with other identities (e.g. male, female, queer, working class, religious, disabled, aged…) and specifically seeks to examine to what extent these intersections create new alignments and opportunities.

Of particular interest are the multiple ways in which Afroeuropeans challenge dominant modes of representation and knowledge production, for instance by claiming space and citizenship, altering taken-for-granted modes of knowing and organizing, and presenting their experiences and perspectives as part and parcel of European society and identity. The conference engages with the dynamism emerging from the growing decolonisation movements and their calls for rethinking dominant modes of knowledge production and representation. We invite reflection on the various layers of intersectional existence, activism, and scholarship with a special focus on the lives of Black Europeans with ancestry in Africa and African diasporic geographical locations such as the Americas and the Caribbean. Building on the notion of ‘subjugated knowledge’, the conference explores how marginalized positions may also give rise to innovative epistemological positions, resistance to and revision of the status quo, and inspire activism and reforms of institutions and policies in Europe and beyond.

Submission guidelines

Proposals are invited by 1 October

and may be completed in English or French online.

The committee will communicate their decisions by 31 October. After acceptance, panel organizers will be responsible for writing a call for individual papers/interventions in their panel.

Scientific Committee

Academic members

• BELGIQUE Nadia Fadil Associate professor anthropology KU Leuven
• PAYS-BAS Gloria Wekker Prof. Em. Anthropology  Utrecht University
• PAYS-BAS Antonio Carmona Bàez author/researcher/chancellor St Maarten University
• ROYAUME-UNI Akwugo Emejulu Professor of sociology University of Warwick
• ROYAUME-UNI Kehinde Andrews Professor of Black Studies Birmingham City University
• SUÈDE Michael McEachrane Researcher Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights
• FINLANDE Faith Mkwesha Researcher University of Helsinki
• ÉTATS-UNIS SA Smythe  Professor in African-American Studies University of California
• FRANCE  Sarah Fila-Bakabadio Associate professor Amerian Studies  Université de Clergy-Pontoise
• ALLEMAGNE Natasha Kelly Researcher HumboldtUniversity Berlin
• PORTUGAL Cristina Roldao Professor of sociology Lisbon University
• ITALIE Alessandra Dimaio Professor of English and African Studies University of Palermo

Representants of the Afroeuropean network

• FINLANDE Anna Rastas Professor of social anthropology University of Tampere
• ALLEMAGNE Mark Stein Professor of English, postcolonial and media studies Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

Non academic members

• BELGIQUE Nadia Nsayi Journaliste, auteure Broederlijk Delen
• BELGIQUE Mathieu Charles Artist, millitant
• BELGIQUE Mohamed Barrie Etudiant, organisateur, millitant Black History Month Belgium
• PAYS-BAS Quincy Gario Artiste, millitant
• PAYS-BAS  Olave Nduwanje  Autheure, journaliste, millitante
• BELGIQUE  Gia Abrassart  Journaliste, millitante Café Congo