Decolonizing Politics
Join us at UCL IIPP for a talk by Robbie Shilliam, author of Decolonizing Politics. Robbie Shilliam researches the political and intellectual complicities of colonialism and race in the global order.
Decolonizing Politics
10 May 2023, 13:00 – 14:00
This event is open to IIPP’s students only
Hosted at UCL IIPP on Wednesday 10th May 2023 from 13:00 - 14:00 (GMT) on Zoom for a talk by Robbie Shilliam. Shilliam researches the political and intellectual complicities of colonialism and race in the global order. He is the author of Decolonizing Politics and co-editor of the Rowman & Littlefield book series, Kilombo: International Relations and Colonial Question. Robbie was a co-founder of the Colonial/Postcolonial/Decolonial working group of the British International Studies Association and is a long-standing active member of the Global Development section of the International Studies Association.
Currently, Robbie is working on two strands of inquiry: firstly, a collective project to rethink the discipline of Political Science as to expose its abiding racial logics, and, alternatively, to retrieve and expand the anti-racist ethos of some of its less canonized practitioners; secondly, a critical consideration of the “free thinkers” of the Black radical tradition - especially Rastafari intellectuals - and their contributions to what we in academia call “political economy”.
The talk is being organised as an enrichment event as part of an IIPP MPA module led by Prof Rainer Kattel. Students who would like to be notified of other events in the future can sign up by emailing IIPPComms@ucl.ac.uk.
Presenter: Robbie Shilliam, Johns Hopkins University
Over the past six years, Robbie has co-curated with community intellectuals and elders a series of exhibitions–in Ethiopia, Jamaica and the UK–which have brought to light the histories and significance of the Rastafari movement for contemporary politics. Based on original, primary research in British imperial and postcolonial history, this work now enjoys an online presence as a teaching aid: www.rastafari-in-motion.org. Robbie also works with Iniversal Development of Rastafari (IDOR) to retrieve histories of the Rastafari presence in Baltimore and Washington DC.
Currently, Robbie is working on two strands of inquiry: firstly, a collective project to rethink the discipline of Political Science as to expose its abiding racial logics, and, alternatively, to retrieve and expand the anti-racist ethos of some of its less canonized practitioners; secondly, a critical consideration of the “free thinkers” of the Black radical tradition - especially Rastafari intellectuals - and their contributions to what we in academia call “political economy”.
Convenor: Prof Rainer Kattel, IIPP Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance
Rainer Kattel is Deputy Director and Professor of Innovation and Public Governance at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). He has studied at the University of Tartu, Estonia, and the University of Marburg, Germany, in philosophy, political philosophy, classics and public administration.
He led Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance for 10 years, building it into one of the leading innovation and governance schools in the region.Professor Kattel has also served on various public policy commissions, including the Estonian Research Council and European Science Foundation. He has worked as an expert for the OECD, UNDP and the European Commission, and served as a member of E-Estonia Council advising the Prime Minister of Estonia. Currently, he leads the Estonian Government’s Gender Equality Council.
He has published extensively on innovation policy, its governance and specific management issues. In 2013, he received Estonia’s National Science Award for his work on innovation policy.