UP Cebu College of Social Sciences
Nurtured to Create, Inspired to Innovate, Destined to Serve
An international extramural organized by the College of Social Sciences (CSS) and the Central Visayas Studies Center (CVSC) of the University of the Philippines Cebu, in cooperation with the Philippine Historical Association (PHA), the Philippine Sociological Society (PSS), and the International Sociological Association (ISA) RC 47 and 48.
October 25-30, 2021
You may access the conference page HERE.
Antonio Pigafetta (1524:154-155) wrote in his “Primo viaggio intorno al mondo” (Magellan’s voyage around the world), that on March 16, 1521, Magellan signed a peace pact with Zugbu’s King Humabon. Along with this are Pigafetta’s testimonies on the first mass and material traits of residents of the island upon the first contact. Such was the historical fact that established how Spanish intervention commenced 500 years back. It puts the Island of Cebu (Zugbu) in the spotlight. Along with Pigafetta’s works were also published materials from known chroniclers namely: Pedro Chirino, Francisco Alzina, Antonio de Morga, Juan de la Isla, and Diego Aduarte among others. All these archival works stood to witness that Catholic-Hispanic institutions imposed variegated colonial rent-seeking strategies, namely: the repartimiento, polo y servicios, compras reales, tributos reales, indulto de comercio, hacienda-monopolio asukarera, tobacco, y abaca, etc.
The Spanish colonial past sustained 333 years of administration in the Philippines. And then, who could have thought that one day a Treaty of Paris will see Spain trade the country at $20 Million for the Americans to take control over the Philippine archipelago. We’ve been passed around from one colonial master to the other. Both cultural and ecological landscapes stood witness to how the nation is marred by a long history of colonial and neocolonial struggles.
At the moment the Global North and the Global South, although positioned on different poles, still share various social realities along related dimensions. Class divisions continue and the ruling classes often maintain close relationships with each other since they share similar living standards, regardless of whether they find themselves in the Global North or the Global South. The toiling classes both in the Global South and the Global North are exploited by the capitalist classes from both locations.
The grim past of colonialism leaves moral and colonial debts, as global neo-liberal policies in the field of trade and investments continue. Global trade pushes for contemporary forms of colonialism such as exploitation of populations in industries called “tourism”, mining and extractivism that devastate resources and biotopes, creating more damage than cultural and religious oppression, the infusion of haute finance into neo-liberal and global debt mechanisms, and the unequal trade and unequal labor relations expressed in the internationalization of the division of labor, among others. Given this pattern, the world order remains the same even after “political decolonization.” It appears that world powers are still allied to keep former colonies in the same coercive situation. Unless there is a greater and holistic resolve to redirect the plight of the poor and the exploited classes at a global scale, will it be possible for real change to take place? It is in this light that the College of Social Sciences in the University of the Philippines Cebu calls for a conference on the theme: Decolonial Perspectives: Reclaiming Our Rights as People in the Global South!
The conference invites paper presentations that shall bring about narratives on the historical experience as colonized sub-national or national territory able to reclaim its position in the greater realm of an independent nationstate. Likewise, it invites conversations and/or discourse on the relationship between the historical experience and the recent social, political, and economic dimensions of national-global realities. Furthermore, the conference shall articulate theoretical and methodological models that may be crucial in putting forward arguments, claims, and themes in decolonial and other Global Southern approaches. In this manner, the conference shall foster Global Southern knowledge production to de-territorialize, decolonize, de-stratify, and democratize social knowledge production. The conference aims to gather contributions that shall problematize and theorize on the fields of Social Sciences, Philosophy, and Humanities from the perspective of Global Southern Scholars.
We invite contributions rooted in Global Southern epistemologies, including decolonial, postcolonial, anticolonial and other perspectives, for varying sub-themes such as:
Abstracts shall not exceed 300 words and must be uploaded in the google form, in this link: tinyurl.com/decolonialperspectives2021
Should you find it more interesting to propose a panel, please send the proposed title and a short description.
The deadline for submission of abstracts and panel proposals is on June 30, 2021, at 12:00 noon Philippine time.
Notice of paper acceptance shall be given by July 30, 2021.
Full paper submission for accepted abstracts is on September 5, 2021, 12:00 noon Philippine time.
Paper submissions shall be sent to [email protected].
DP-ROR in PDF Format