The HACPT Seminar
Discourse on Anticolonialism is linked to the wider History of Anticolonial Political Thought project, which includes annual workshops, book talks, panel discussions, and seminars. The seminar schedule for the 2025-2026 academic year will be posted soon.
Our past events have included an exciting array of speakers, and a variety of topics and time periods. Our events take place in a hybrid-form with in-person events across London, and Zoom access for those who wish to join remotely.
Our aim is to bring together the scholars, students, activists, and researchers who study or are interested in the incredibly rich histories of anticolonial political thought, art, culture, politics and history.
Here’s our exciting schedule for the 2025/2026 academic year:
October 22, 2025: Book Panel - Stephen Legg’s ‘Spaces of Anticolonialism’. Stephen Legg (Nottingham), Tanroop Sandhu (QMUL), Romola Sanyal (LSE), Philippa Williams (QMUL).
November 13th, 2025: “Post-war activism in the metropole”. Iain Stewart (UCL) and Owen Dowling (Cambridge).
January 12, 2026: “Bringing the War Home: Gulf Solidarity Campaigns against Britain’s Dirty War in Dhofar, 1965-75”. Kimia Talebi (York).
February 9, 2026: “Anticolonial Resistance to Imperial Invasion”. Ajmal Waqif (Birkbeck) and Andrew Arsan (Cambridge).
March 9, 2026: “The Black Atlantic against the French Empire”. Jesus Ruiz (Vanderbilt) and Melanie Lamotte (Duke).
April 8, 2026: “Anticolonial worldmaking and its limits (?)” Jackqueline Frost (UoL in Paris) and Poorvi Bellur (Princeton).
May 18, 2026: “Anticolonial Praxis in South Asian Islam”. Samia Khatun (SOAS), Faridah Zaman (Oxford), and Mahdi Chowdhury (Harvard).
June 22, 2026: “Marxism across the Tropics”. Arwa Awan (Oberlin) and Lin Hongxuan (National University of Singapore).
This project began in June 2024, with an inaugural event that included Darold Cuba (Cambridge), Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi (York), Alexandra Reza (Bristol), Humeira Iqtidar (KCL), and Tanroop Sandhu (QMUL).
In October 2024, Mayaki Kimba (Columbia) delivered a paper titled “An Anticolonial Welfare State? On (Dis)united Antillean Social Workers in the Post-Imperial Netherlands, 1968-1975”.
In December, Akram Salhab and Hafsa Kanjwal spoke to us with papers on “‘Liberated Territory’ in Palestinians’ Anticolonial Thought and Practice” and “Colonizing Kashmir: State-building Under Indian Occupation” respectively.
During February 2025, we heard from Kevin Pham (Amsterdam) who spoke about his new book The Architects of Dignity: Vietnamese Visions of Decolonization.
In April, we had another joint seminar with Sara Salem (LSE), who spoke on “Encountering Traces of Anticolonial Pasts”, and Mahvish Ahmad (LSE) whose paper was on “Balochistan and the Unfinished Project of Decolonisation”.
In June 2025, we held another workshop focused on political economy. We heard from Nadia Bou Ali (AUB), Sarah El-Kazaz (SOAS), Hengameh Ziai (SOAS), and Vikram Visana (Leicester).
In the years to come, we intend to expand the scope and scale of the History of Anticolonial Political Thought project. Follow us to stay up to date on our work!
The HACPT is convened by a committee of scholars from across many institutions:
Chloe Ireton, Lecturer in the History of Iberia and the Iberian World 1500-1800 (UCL)
Humeira Iqtidar, Professor of Politics (KCL)
Leslie James, Senior Lecturer in Global History (QMUL)
Peter Morgan, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Faculty of History, (Cambridge)
Tanroop Sandhu, PhD Candidate in History (QMUL)
Layli Uddin, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations of South Asia (QMUL)
Ajmal Waqif, PhD Candidate in History (Birkbeck)
Waseem Yaqoob, Lecturer in the History of Political Thought (QMUL)
Musab Younis, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations (Oxford)