Partition and Solidarity: Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present Conference
Partition and Solidarity: Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present
Friday, March 6, 2026
University of Washington, Seattle
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Quick Links
- About the Conference
- Conference Program and Schedule
- Registration Information
- Conference Sponsors
- Crude Capitalism Reading Group
- Support Fund
- Contact Us
About the Conference
Over the past five centuries, empires have used partition and division to justify and advance colonialism. We can see that ongoing history of colonial rule and racial violence exploding around the world today—from Palestine to Minnesota and beyond.
Join us at this one-day symposium where scholars and activists will gather to engage in conversations about anticolonial struggles of the past and the present. How might we forge diasporic imaginaries and solidarity movements to contest the colonial world order toward collective liberation?
The symposium will include a keynote address by Adam Hanieh of the University of Exeter (UK), who has been selected to deliver a Walker-Ames public lecture. He is a leading scholar of Middle East politics and political economy who is framing and exploring the most urgent issue of our current moment. His talk on petroleum and capitalism, including the migrant workers behind the industry, will stress the inextricable links between global capitalism, colonial rule, and solidarity movements.
Conference Program and Schedule
All sessions will be held in the Husky Union Building (HUB) on the University of Washington Seattle campus.
Preliminary Schedule (subject to change)
9:30 a.m.
Welcome
Moon-Ho Jung
9:45-11:30 a.m.
Colonialism, Partition, and the Modern World
Moderator: Chandan Reddy, UW.
Maile Arvin, University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa
“Indentured Diplomats: The Child Crew of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Naval Mission to Samoa”
Mona Bhan, Syracuse University
“Decolonizing Kashmir and the Global Imaginaries of Freedom and Self-Determination”
Adrian De Leon, New York University
“Burning Bushes Rise and Roar: Towards an Environmental History of the Filipino Guerrilla”
Rabab Abdulhadi, San Francisco State University
“Challenging Colonial Boundaries and Memorializing Resistance”
Noon-1p.m.
Keynote Address (virtual, lunch provided with free registration)
Adam Hanieh, University of Exeter
“From Palestine to Iraq: Toward a Global History of Fossil Capitalism and Anticolonial Imaginaries”
1:30-3:15 p.m.
Anticolonialism and Anticommunism
Moderator: Holly Barker, UW
Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi, UCLA
“Peace Activism as Anti-Military Solidarity: Entangled Afterlives of Cold War Partition in Korea and Vietnam”
Alfred Peredo Flores, Harvey Mudd College
“Partition and the Possibilities of Anti-Nuclear Solidarity among Chamorus and Marshallese”
Simeon Man, University of California, San Diego
“Archipelagic Feminism and Demilitarization in Okinawa and Guåhan”
Dae-Han Song, International Strategy Center
“Navigating Multipolarity and the Polycrisis: Looking Back at South Korea's Past to Chart Its Way Forward”
3:30-5:15 p.m.
Forging Anticolonial Solidarities
Moderators: Chandan Reddy and Moon-Ho Jung, UW
Cathi Choi, Women Cross DMZ
“Women's Rights Under Division: Challenging U.S. Forever War and Militarism in Korea”
Karam Dana, University of Washington, Bothell
“Palestine and the Changing Landscape of Race, Power, and Dissent in the United States”
Cindy Domingo, LELO: Legacy of Equality, Leadership and Organizing
“Building International Solidarity: From the Philippines to Cuba and Venezuela”
Abdel Razzaq Takriti, Rice University
"Palestine: Partition as Settler-Colonialism"
Registration Information
Partition and Solidarity: Anticolonial Struggles in the Colonial Present is free and open to the public. However, due to space limitations, registration is required.
Registration for the conference includes a continental breakfast and a boxed lunch. A donation is suggested, but not required. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Registration is now open, RSVP here.
Conference Sponsors
This conference is organized by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies and the Simpson Center for the Humanities.
Crude Capitalism Reading Group
In anticipation of the conference, the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies is hosting a reading group focused on the book by Adam Hanieh - Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market (Verso, 2024).
Thursday, February 5, 6:30-8 p.m.
The first twenty people to register for the reading group will receive a free physical copy of the book, Crude Capitalism by Adam Hanieh. Register here.
Support Fund
To make a contribution via one of the UW’s additional gift vehicles (securities, wire transfer, planned gift) please contact Tiffany Calverley at (206) 543-0529 or by email calvet@uw.edu.
Contact Us
If you have any questions related to the conference or program, please contact the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at hbcls@uw.edu.