Discussing Decolonisation: Technology, Colonialism and the Politics of ‘AI’

The York St John Discussing Decolonisation series continues on Wednesday 29th April with a two-part event, featuring a hybrid panel discussion on the politics of ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI)’, followed by an in-person workshop on decolonial approaches to knowledge production.

The event is open to all, and you will have the option to select which session(s) you would like to join when booking your ticket.

Teas and coffees will be provided.

Session 1, 11am–12.30pm (DG/017, and hybrid via Teams):What does decolonisation mean in the context of ‘AI’, or the age of ‘AI Empire’ ()? Is the continued expansion of 'AI' infrastructure inevitable, sustainable, or even desirable? Or is it now simply easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of global techno-capitalism?For the first session of the day, we will be joined by Dr Shereen Fernandez, Dr Masoumeh Iran Mansouri and Dr Rashné Limki for a panel discussion exploring the politics of ‘AI’ from anti-racist, anti-colonial and decolonial perspectives. We will examine the relationship between racial capitalism, data colonialism and the technologies propping up the contemporary world order, and also consider how such technologies might be contested in order to imagine and build towards alternative collective futures.

Session 2, 1.30-3.30pm (CC/201, in-person only):In the afternoon, we will continue to explore questions of epistemic justice and futurity through an in person workshop focusing on decolonial approaches to knowledge production, facilitated by Dr Rashné Limki from the University of Edinburgh.The workshop will explore the meaning of coloniality and its implication in the production and presentation of knowledge. In so doing, it aims to lay the foundation for developing decolonial praxis. The session will proceed through collective reading and conversation.

Speaker bios:

is Senior Lecturer in Work, Race and Decolonial Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Her academic thinking and writing focus mainly on the role of coloniality in the world as is, and the possibilities for decolonisation. She is interested in the ethics and politics of work in a global context, particularly the role of difference (primarily, race and gender) in the emergence and distribution of new forms of work. More recently, she has been thinking about the eugenicist underpinnings of discourses on technology. She occasionally blogs at rashne.me.

is an academic based in London, researching and writing about securitisation, race and Muslim life. Her work is grounded in critical geography and aims to challenge dominant narratives around security and citizenship through engaged, interdisciplinary scholarship. Shereen is currently teaching at the London School of Economics (LSE), where she works on an interdisciplinary module which looks at the social and political nature of Artificial Intelligence. She is also currently co-editing a book on AI and Islamophobia, with Shafiudden Choudry (forthcoming with Manchester University Press).

is an Associate Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham. Her research interests are complementary and wide-ranging, from developing algorithms to exploring topics at the intersection of cultural theory and robotics, as well as critical approaches to understanding the societal impact of AI, how it is contested, and the alternative forms of AI that might be possible. She is the co-founder of both the Critical Cultural Robotics Network at Birmingham, and the Contentious Politics of AI network, bringing together academics, policy researchers and activists interested in ways that AI is being, and can be, challenged.

This event is part of the ongoing Discussing Decolonisation series at York St John University. If you would like to receive updates about forthcoming events in the series, along with recordings and materials from past events, please sign up to our mailing list.If you have any questions about the event itself, please email co-conveners Lucy Potter ([email protected]) and/or Laura Key ([email protected]).

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