Reflections on the Bartlett Forum for the Global Majority
15 January 2025
To participate fully in world community, “we must first be able to dialogue with one another, to give one another subject-to-subject recognition that is an act of resistance that is part of the decolonizing, anti-racist process” (bell hooks).

Dr Ala’a Shehabi, Bartlett EDI fellow and Associate Professor (Teaching) in Middle East Politics reflects on the four years she led the Bartlett Forum for the Global Majority.
Inception of The Bartlett Forum
Four years ago, as an idea conceived by Dr Kamna Patel, of The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and following a series of ‘race dialogues’ with staff and students held by The Bartlett’s leadership in 2020, I was asked to set up the Bartlett Forum for the Global Majority, to recognise the faculty’s commitment to antiracist practice.
Creating space for world community
Willing to commit a decent budget to the growing focus in the faculty on race and space, the idea of ‘creating space for world community’ was appealing but vague – in a good way. The space was given true autonomy so that it can be shaped by its members, and had agency and recognition such that this space could reflect the world. My sense was that the Global University was at last beginning to recognise the empirical Majority among its staff and students beyond the reductive labels of ‘BAME’ and ‘ethnic minorities’ and that an infrastructure of care through peer support, amongst other things could be a step forward. As an activist, I’ve become enmeshed in many communities in London and across the world, but as an academic, I have also asked myself what does it mean to be in community, to work in community, and to be changed by the community in the very institution I spend most of my time in. Using a bottom up approach, the Forum has brought together hundreds of students, educators, staff and public voices to develop dialogue on the issues that are absorbing our attention or are affecting our people and our homelands.
Solidarity and justice in the face of global events
We have conceived the Forum as a space of solidarity and justice, addressing the personal impact of global and domestic events on our individual and collective lives. From the struggle for real black lives, the cost of living crisis, and ongoing wars and genocides, the Forum has become a crucial place for community members to gather, console, grieve and gossip A LOT (by which I mean gossip as the expression of true unfiltered thoughts). Whilst institutions may have been silent, we definitely were not.
Community kitchen: Cooking and connecting
One of my personal highlights was the community kitchen, where members spent an entire day cooking Palestinian food together under Hanadi Samhan’s culinary skills. We created abundance for all in the face of scarcity during the cost-of-living crisis that affected many students. People left with bag loads of food and a fistful of friends. We also drew on our rich network and our colleague Shahed Saleem hosted us twice at the V&A to experience the Mosque Pavillion he had curated. Catalina Ortiz invited us to learn about the Latin American communities in London, with fresh empanadas.
Support and solidarity for colleagues
Last year, we organised a five day writing retreat for those directly affected by conflicts in Sudan, Congo and Palestine acknowledging the stultifying effect that such events can have on our ability to think and write. We’ve also gathered in solidarity around colleagues facing political, institutional and financial adversity and sometimes, direct targeting in the national press, as happened to our colleague Kamna Patel, demonstrating that in this space no one is alone.
Inspiring thought leaders and intellectuals
We also welcomed thought leaders that speak to our worlds, such as Guilaine Kinouani, Fatima Manji, Musab Younis and Subhadra Das, inspiring us as public intellectuals and helping us make sense of an oppressive world. Living While Black, a book written by Guilaine became an invaluable journaling tool we gifted to members of the Forum during the lockdown and public attention given to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Building the Forum: A collective effort
The work to build the Forum has been a real honour for me and for the convening team: Hanadi Sleiman, Catalina Ortiz, Rana Aziz, Fui Amevor and Abdelkawy Abdou, who over the years contributed their time and effort to the logistical labour that building community requires. Sara Shafei and Sarah Rolph have been consistently supportive and enabling of the Forum and I hope they will ensure its continuation going forward.
Looking forward
In the face of multiple global crises affecting us all in unequal ways, we must do all we can to build world community within UCL itself before looking outward – so that the word “Global” encompasses everybody’s idea of the world.
Reflections from the Dean
Reflecting on the Forum, Professor Jacqui Glass, Dean of The Bartlett, notes that:
““The Bartlett Forum for the Global Majority has been a tremendously meaningful initiative, which has touched hearts and minds in its sensitivity to people and place. I’m grateful to Ala’a and colleagues who put so much thought into nurturing a new space for members of our community to come together. This is a wonderful example of how new community is built – and it reminds us how much can be achieved through kindness, cooperation, and empathy. I’m looking forward to the next steps for this world community.”
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