[Extended Deadline: 26.06.2023]

"Ventana V - Navigating Uncomfortable Contradictions: Decolonial Routes towards Pluriversality"; online / University of York (UK), October 4th-6th 2023.

Like in all of our previous editions, the University of York will be home to the fifth version of Conference Ventana.We are also adapting to the needs and requirements of this post-pandemic world, offering all participants the opportunity to present and engage with the conference from anywhere in the globe. We understand that a conference that aims to discuss postcolonialism and decolonisation needs to be open and accesible. For this, for a third consecutive year, the digital dimension of Ventana will be of extreme importance for the success of the intellectual and cultural exchange that we aim to foster.

The world is cohabited by a plethora of pluriverses, identities, and ways of thinking-feeling, knowing, and being, and yet, most of these forms of existence are subordinated to a hegemonic Western worldview. The hegemony of Western ways of thinking, being, and living, is characterized by privileging theories and knowledges from hegemonic centres while marginalising peripheries and perpetuating non-asymmetric power relations of the colonial legacy between the West and the ‘others’.

During the last version of Ventana, we engaged in dialogues with the global margins to challenge colonial ideologies and empower marginalised communities. We felt constantly uncomfortable with the contradictions that we embody, such as coming from the “global south” and discussing decoloniality in English language. Nurturing from previous conversations and building on the conference trajectory, the upcoming conference, Navigating Uncomfortable Contradictions: Decolonial Routes Towards Pluriversality, will explore decolonisation as a pathway towards pluriversality and the unsettling contradictions as a point of reflection within decolonial approaches. Inspired by Enrique Dussel, Arturo Escobar, Walter Mignolo, Catherine E. Walsh, Marisol de la Cadena, Ndlovu-Gatsheni Sabelo, and Mario Blaser on decolonial thought and pluriversality, this conference explores various paths towards pluriversality and navigate through multiple forms of knowledges, epistemologies, cosmologies, and ontologies; acknowledging and engaging with diverse perspectives and experiences in an environment of mutual respect and care towards global diversity. Thus, the conference seeks to provide a platform for critical engagement and dialogue within unsettling contradictions that arise from the processes of decolonisation and to explore ways towards a more equitable and just world.

Call for Papers and Workshops:
Ventana invites postgraduate students, researchers at any stage of their career, as well as individuals from various fields, including arts and humanities, social sciences, and other disciplines to participate in the conference through two different modes: workshops and paper presentations. This will be a hybrid event and more details on the venue for the in-person attendance will be confirmed in due course. Although English is the conference's main language, we also accept presentations in any language provided that they are pre-recorded and English subtitles included by the presenter. Please note that abstracts need to be submitted in the application in English.

- Abstracts for both papers and workshops must include 3-5 keywords.
- Abstracts for papers must be 300 words max in length.
- Please bear in mind that each paper presentation should last up to 15 minutes.

Call for workshops:
The workshop sessions aim to develop more dynamic and focused discussions on specific subjects of interest to the attendees.

Applicants should submit a proposal of 500 words max. including the following points:
- Workshop title
- A short description of the workshop describing the theme, methodology, implementation, type of activities planned, aims, research question, target audience, and any specific technical requirement.
- 3 to 5 Keywords
- Workshops must state the modality to be used either online, in-person or hybrid.
- If a specific online platform is required to facilitate the workshop, this must be stated in the proposal.
- Monitoring team, including full names, affiliations, emails, and a brief biography (no more than 100 words) (Workshops can be run by one person or a team of up to 3 members)
- The workshop session should have a duration of 2 hrs, considering a group of between 12-20 participants.

During that time, the workshop moderator(s) will introduce the subject, develop activities and lead the discussion on the main topic (a 15 minute break must be considered).

The topics for both papers and workshops could be (but are not limited to):
- Activism and Social Movements
- Anthropology
- Art and Heritage
- Body Politics
- Culture and Linguistics
- Education and Curricula
- Economy
- Environmental Studies
- Feminism and Gender
- Institutions
- Language and Discourse
- Queer and LGBT+
- Politics
- Research Methodologies
- Resistance
- Narrative Performance and Performativity
- Psychology
- Postcolonial Studies
- Trauma
- Science and Technology
- STEM

Abstract submissions for both research papers and workshops need to be submitted via the application form available on our website by the 26th of June 2023: https://www.conferenciaventana.org/

Publication of Papers:
Ventana V is pleased to announce the renewal of its partnership with the Academic journal Tensões Mundiais. Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit the final version of their papers to Ventana, a month after the conference has taken place, for possible corrections. The papers will then go through a second selection process to be part of a special edition in partnership with the journal Tensões Mundiais. Submissions will have to follow the standard and editing requirements of the journal. Further information will be provided in due course.

Please note that your application needs to be submitted in English.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at:
conferenciaventanagmail.com