Postcolonial Studies Association 2015 Convention

Confirmed keynote speakers

Professor Paul Gilroy (King’s College London)

Professor John McLeod (University of Leeds)

Dr Gayatri Gopinath (New York University)

Special topic: Diasporas

Movement —be it of culture, capital or the human movement involved in colonialism, slavery, indentured labour, or postcolonial migration to former colonial metropoli— has always been central to postcolonial studies.

Diaspora has been one of the key concepts of postcolonial studies within this context of individual and collective journeys.  Within contemporary analysis, diasporas have tended to be explored in terms of ethnicity, race, nationality, and even religion. However, diaspora has sometimes been accused of perpetuating histories of colonial inequality by failing to differentiate between precarious migration motivated by exploitation and the more economically privileged transnational movements of the global bourgeoisie. The study of human movement during colonial and postcolonial times has taken a number of shapes across the humanities and social sciences through the study of diaspora, migration, transnationalism, cosmopolitanism and globalisation.

It is this theme of movement that the conference special topic will address. What social, historical and linguistic configurations does the study of diasporas privilege? Which ones does it ignore? How has diaspora come to include different motivations of migration beyond the more familiar ones of ethnic discrimination and economic hardship? How has the diasporic experience been represented and studied?

Convention Committee

Rabaha Arshad (PSA Email Bulletin Coordinator) Alberto Fernández Carbajal (Leverhulme EC Fellow, University of Leicester; PSA PG and EC Rep) Ana Mendes (University of Lisbon; PSA Conference Committee) Anshuman Mondal (Brunel University; PSA Chair) Lucinda Newns (London Metropolitan University, PSA Newsletter Editor) Leighan Renaud (PhD candidate, University of Leicester) Ana María Sánchez Arce (Sheffield Hallam University; PSA Conference Committee) Marc Scully (University of Leicester; Leicester Migration Network Co-convenor)

Venue

The Convention will be hosted on the University campus and at College Court, the University’s new and state-of-the-art conference centre.

Accommodation

We recommend College Court as your accommodation for the duration of the convention. As a convention delegate, you can benefit from a discount. Please check the registration site for details.

Transport

Car: Both locations are within easy reach of the M1 and M69 motorway The main campus’ postcode is LE1 7RH. All campus access is via University Road. Please use LE2 3TQ orKnighton Road, Leicester when using a SatNav device to reach College Court.

Train: The venues are within easy reach of Leicester station, a 70 minute journey from central London. There is a taxi rank at the station which can take you direct to the campus or College Court; alternatively the main campus is a 20 minute walk.

Bus: no. 48 (city centre – main campus), 47 (main campus – city centre), 80 (city centre – main campus – College Court) 80A (main campus – College Court) 44 and 44a (city centre – College Court)

For further information see the University’s travel guide or College Court’s transport guide.

Partners

The convention will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing & its ongoing partnership with the PSA.

Leicester Migration Network

Diaspora, Migration and Transnationalism Group, British Sociological Association

University of Leicester School of English