Wars, environmental destruction, the rise of right-wing populism and increasingly polarized international relations. Is this time of rupture, where the world as we understand it changes, also a moment for new beginnings? Is it actually a rupture or just a question of temporalities and how we look at conflicts and developments across the world? How can we better understand it and find ways forward?
These are the questions posed by the four speakers of this year’s ALMA lecture series. At a time when de- and postcolonial scholarship faces increasing criticism, this lecture series was organized to show the value in engaging with colleagues and scholars who have long offered alternative perspectives on some of the most important issues of the day. By foregrounding Southern perspectives, the ALMA lecture series 2026 emphasized the importance of theory grounded in empirical realities and provided a platform for voices that have long been pushed to the peripheries of world affairs and knowledge production.
Across the lecture series, each discussion contributed distinct insights while collectively reinforcing the importance of plural perspectives in knowledge production.
María Cárdenas showcased Afrolatinx, Indigenous and cross-sectorial movements in the Americas that have long practiced more-than-human relational and collective life-making, e.g., ‘pervivencia’ (eng.: remaining). Using this approach in activism and politics, they have been able to destabilize the frameworks that enable extractivist and exploitative racial capitalism. This ultimately resists fatalist perspectives on world politics that facilitate fascism.
Rosa Cordillera A. Castillo gave an insight into the field of ecocentric transitional justice, informed by non-Eurocentric legal frameworks and indigenous epistemologies. By using the example of the Philippine’s first transitional justice process involving Muslims, Non-Moro Indigenous Peoples, Christian settlers, and the Philippine government, she reflected on the possibilities of the ecocentric approach for reimagining reparations that encompass environmental and more-than-human harms.
Toni Haastrup’s talk focused on African agency in a world that still runs on extractive and colonial logics, calling for demilitarization and a feminist pan-Africanism that centers solidarity, care, and the knowledge and labour of those often excluded from politics.
Lastly, Somdeep Sen emphasized the persisting racialized workings of the global order: Using (historical) examples from Tanzania and India, he showed how colonial violence and the dehumanization of racialized bodies shape the discourse on and our perception of Palestine, even today.
Take-Aways from our lecture series
The lectures made clear that it is perhaps not a rupture or a new beginning, but a question of multiple temporalities and diverse trajectories of social and political change. Taken together, the speakers emphasized that how we look at current conflicts and developments around the world is shaped by different historical experiences and local contexts. Together, the talks highlighted the importance of approaching global issues through a wider range of theoretical and empirical lenses and deepened our understanding of the contemporary world.
The lecture series attracted an engaged audience, ranging from 60-150 participants per lecture. The consistently high level of attendants reflects the relevance of the themes and the strong interest in scholarship centered on Global South perspectives. Discussions were lively, respectful, and insightful.
The ABI will continue to showcase voices and perspectives from the Global South, for example, in the Virtual Encyclopaedia “Rewriting Peace and Conflict” published by the Project Postcolonial Hierarchies in Peace and Conflict Studies. The Encyclopaedia is a multimedia and open-access platform about peace and conflict from post- and decolonial perspectives, offering an interdisciplinary collection of theoretical and empirical insights.
For the sake of broader accessibility, recordings of the lectures are available on the ABI’s YouTube channel. Subscribe not to miss other lectures and research insights:
The ALMA (Africa, Latin America, Middle East and Asia) lecture series is an occasional series organised by the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute in cooperation with the Colloquium Politicum at the University of Freiburg.
This year’s lecture series is co-organised with the De/Coloniality Now Centre at the University of Freiburg. This multidisciplinary initiative seeks to understand the impact of coloniality on today’s world and the ways in which people and institutions in all regions of the world, including our own, remember, perpetuate, and contest the legacy of colonialism with a focus on the present day (“now”).