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Hew Wai Weng (Cornell University and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) | "Against 'Colonizers’: Decolonial Idioms and Right-wing Propaganda in Malaysia"

It is often assumed that decolonial discourses will empower emancipatory and anti-racist movements. Yet, in reality, many right-wing activists appropriate decolonial idioms to promote their ultra-nationalist, majoritarian and nativist agenda. In Malaysia, several right-wing groups and individuals routinely use the “decolonial” rhetoric to criticize various ethnic, religious, gender and sexual minorities and to silence their efforts to demand equal rights. In other words, their call to go against ‘colonizers’ is to justify their intolerant stands by simply labelling any perceived threats to ‘heterosexual Malay Muslim identity’ as “foreign intervention”, “Western imperialism”, or “Chinese colonialism”. In this talk, he will first discuss two concurrent trends in Malaysia – the rise of right-wing majoritarianism and the popularity of decolonial discourses. He will then explore how “decolonial” rhetoric feeds into right-wing propaganda, as manifested in political campaigns, social activism, academic writings, and pop culture. Lastly, he goes beyond the Malaysian case study to examine similar trends of right-wing appropriation of “decolonial” discourses in the region (such as in Indonesia) and beyond. This talk aims to draw attention to the possible danger and limitations of decolonial scholarship without totally dismissing its emancipatory potential. 

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March 26

Thiti Jamkajornkeiat - Left Third-Worldist Indonesia during the Postcolonial Interregnum: Ibrahim Isa and the Theorization of Circulation Struggles

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April 4

Periyachi: A Tamil Mother/Midwife Goddess in the Singaporean Diaspora