June 2007 'Settler Colonialism': Fifth Galway Conference on Colonialism

NUI Galway will host a major international conference on 'Settler Colonialism' from 27 – 30 June. Organized in association with the University's MA in Culture and Colonialism and with the support of the Centre for Irish Studies, this is the fifth Galway conference on colonialism.

With delegates arriving from Canada to Cuba, and New Zealand to Zimbabwe, the conference is being held in conjunction with the Society for Irish Latin American Studies and will feature an impressive international line-up of scholars and activists.

Dr. Lionel Pilkington, Course Director, MA in Culture and Colonialism at NUI Galway said: "Settler colonisers come to stay. They seek to replace native peoples or—or, at least, displace them from—their land. Characteristically, the outcome is a conflictual coexistence through which indigenous and invasive societies historically transform one another.

Dr. Pilkington added: "Topics to be addressed, such as indigenous rights, resistance, settler identity, land, and genocide, show the importance of settler colonialism as an historical legacy and as an ongoing political and cultural phenomenon"

The conference is particularly proud to be able to announce the participation of one of the world s most distinguished postcolonial theorists, Dr Robert Young, the Julius Silver Professor of English and Comparative Literature at New York University. Professor Young will deliver a paper entitled Anti-Colonial Colonialism which will address the Fenian invasion of Canada. He will also perform the official opening of the conference on Wednesday evening (June 27).

Among other speakers at the conference are: Chief Ron Ignace of the Shuswap Nation from British Columbia; Wayne Atkinson, a member of the Yorta Yorta and the Dja Dja Wurrong people of central and northeastern Victoria; activist, feminist, and member of the Hawai'ian royal family, Haunani-Kay Trask; and Professor Saree Makdisi, Palestinian activist and literary scholar.

There will be a special focus on Palestine, with a roundtable discussion dedicated to highlighting the current situation. Participants include Raymond Deane, former Chairman of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Lorenzo Veracini, author of Israel and Settler Society (2006). Two of the plenary lectures, to be given by Saree Makdisi and Patrick Wolfe, will also discuss aspects of the Palestinian situation.

ENDS

Further conference details are available from Lionel Pilkington, English Department, NUI Galway Tel: 091 493078