Colonialism and Its Legacies

FAIN: RZ-50046-03

University of Chicago (Chicago, IL 60637-5418)
Iris Marion Young (Project Director: September 2002 to March 2005)

A conference and publication of a book of conference papers on the theme of the legacy of colonialism and its implications for understanding modern European political thought and the political thought of writers from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. (9 months)

We seek to hold an international conference on political philosophy under the theme, "Colonialism and its Legacies," in April 2004. The conference plans to bring two recent scholarly discussions into fruitful dialogue: (1) interpretations of modern European political thought about colonialism and non-European peoples; (2) analysis and evaluation of the political thought of late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers from Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. We aim to situate discussion of these literatures in relation to theoretical interpretation and normative analysis of contemporary political issues, aspects of which can be construed as legacies of colonialism or imperialism. The conference will contribute to ongoing research efforts of the Conference on the Study of Political Thought, and to those of an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Chicago. We plan to publish an edited volume based on the conference papers, as well as to continue informing our individual published work with the results of this collaboration.