Philosophies of Resistance

The Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) Human Sciences Seminar Series is an invited speaker and research seminar organised by the Philosophy section of MMU's Department of History, Politics and Philosophy. The series, which has run for over forty years, was founded by Philosopher David Melling and Professor Wolfe Mays in 1979. It was created out of a desire to explore the various human sciences in a systematic way from the standpoint of critical philosophy.

The 2026 series, Philosophies of Resistance, will explore the philosophical thought that has resisted colonial, racial and carceral oppression.

The series aims is to question the role that philosophical ideas have played – and continue to play – in collective struggles for social justice, and human emancipation more broadly.

The three seminars in the series are:

• Frantz Fanon & Stand Up to Racism
• Philosophy in Prisons
• Human Rights & Resistance

Each seminar includes an academic talk followed by an ‘in conversation’ discussion between the speaker(s) and a local political activist and questions from the audience.

A 15-minute refreshment break is included.

• Free tickets for MMU students and also for staff members

Frantz Omar Fanon (1925-1961) is one of the most important anti-colonial thinkers of the twentieth century. Fanon says colonialism is not simply a physical system of inequality and oppression, it also involves a framework for categorising people, and relating them to each other in social space. He argues that under colonialism the central system for categorising people is race.

In this seminar, philosopher Komarine Romdenh-Romluc will speak about the life and work of Fanon. This will be followed by an in-conversation discussion between Romdenh-Romluc and Stand up to Racism activist Nahella Ashraf, exploring the significance of Fanon’s ideas in contemporary anti-racist struggles.

Dr Komarine Romdenh-Romluc is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sheffield. Her fundamental interest is in who we are. She works within the phenomenological tradition in philosophy, and uses its resources to understand our bodily existence, and the ways we are shaped by the surrounding world. She is particularly interested in questions of diaspora identity and what it is to belong.

Nahella Ashraf is an anti-racism activist affiliated to Stand Up To Racism, where she is engaged in grassroots organising and public education aimed at challenging structural and institutional forms of racism. Her activism focuses on opposing Islamophobia, racial discrimination, and the normalisation of far right and exclusionary ideologies within public discourse and policy.

Philosophy in Prisons (PiP) charity works to bring philosophical practice and dialogue to prisoners across Britain in an effort to deepen critical thinking skills and build stronger communities between prisoners. Speakers Dr Leonie Smith and Dr Jon Bebb (Chair and Vice Chair of PiP) will deliver a session demonstrating the philosophical work they have been engaging prisoners in. This will be followed by an in-conversation discussion with Pr*son officer Gavin Kelly (HMP Stafford) about the transformative impact philosophy has had on prisoners participating in the programme and, the potentials of philosophy to fuel resistance and liberation.

Dr Leonie Smith is Lecturer in Philosophy at Lancaster University, where she directs the undergraduate programmes in Philosophy and PPE, and is co-director of the Ethics, Values and Policy initiative. Dr Smith has contributed significantly to discussions on pedagogy, particularly through her programme, ‘Class in the Classroom’. She is closely engaged with a range of initiatives that address socioeconomic and structural barriers to education, helping students from under-resourced backgrounds to thrive at university.

Dr Jon Bebb is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool. His research explores how our ideas of what is ‘normal’ shape supposedly neutral areas of life, influencing how society treats marginalised groups, including people in poverty or those with mental health conditions. Dr Bebb is active in widening participation in philosophy. He has organised annual undergraduate events for Minorities and Philosophy (MAP), and co-developed the Thought Experiments in Schools Project, sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy. For the past five years, he has collaborated with the Philosophy in Pr*son charity, delivering both introductory and advanced philosophy courses, and developing materials for remote learning.

Gavin Kelly is the Physical Education Instructor (PEI) at HMP Stafford. Gavin regularly works with external partners and charities to improve Pr*son culture and outcomes, and brings a practitioner’s perspective to conversations about justice, responsibility, and rehabilitation. He has worked with the Philosophy in Prisons charity for the last four years and now works with Pr*son residents in support of their philosophical community. He has a particular interest in education, ethical leadership, and the role of reflective practice in supporting positive change for people in custody.

In this seminar, Barbara Arneil will discuss the evolution of human rights and explore how they have been used as tools of resistance, as well as tools of marginalisation and oppression. Following her talk, there will be an in-conversation session with student activist Rishi Milward-Bose where they will consider the relationship between rights and more radical modes of political resistance as well as the advantages and limitations of systems of rights when seeking to overcome oppression.

Barbara Arneil is a Professor of the Global History of Anti-Colonial Thought at the University of British Columbia. She is interested in the areas of identity politics and the history of political thought. As an author she has a specialism in the intersection between liberalism and colonialism. She is also interested in gender and political theory and has done research in the areas of social trust and diversity, global citizenship and cosmopolitanism, the role of disability in political theory and domestic colonies. Dr Arneil is Past President of the Canadian Political Science Association (2019-2020), Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2022) and Member of the Order of Canada (2023).

Rishi Milward-Bose works as Migrant Justice Campaigns and Movement Building Coordinator intern at People & Planet facilitating the Divest Borders campaign, supporting students who try to force their universities to exclude companies from investments that profit from migrant abuse. Rishi has previously been involved in a range of activist initiatives, including university-based pro-Palestine divestment campaigns and encampments, climate justice campaigns and a variety of community-strengthening initiatives.

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