Join CSEEES and the Department of Slavic & East European Languages & Cultures for a special guest lecture with Bolaji Balogun (U. of Sheffield).
Abstract: In this book talk, Bolaji Balogun sets out the foundational ideas about colonization and race in Central and Eastern Europe and relates them to the global manifestations that influenced them. Focusing on colonialism and racism, the talk indicates a shift in global racial discourse – an understanding of the specificity of Polish racism that can transform and add to our understandings of race in the West. In doing so, the talk offers a theoretical and historical context of race-making in the so-called ‘peripheral sphere’, whilst outlining the ways in which colonization and race have been framed specifically in early modern Poland and its ‘empire’ in the Atlantic world.
To do this effectively, Balogun draws on archival resources - manuscripts, documents, and records - from Poland and other parts of Europe to theorize what he identifies as the three key manifestations of colonization and race in Poland, namely colonial global economy; colonization; and eugenics. These key manifestations allow him to recall discussions on colonialism and racism from the margin to the center in order to redirect them beyond the prevailing accounts in Western Europe and the Americas. The talk excavates the veiled racialized and colonial structures within the Polish histories as a way of remapping the legacies of colonialism and race-making in Europe.
You can purchase your own copy of Balogun's book.
Speaker Bio: Bolaji Balogun is a Sociologist based in the Department of Geography at the University of Sheffield, UK. He holds the prestigious Leverhulme Trust ECR Fellowship, and previously held the Leverhulme Trust Fellowship Abroad at Krakow University of Economics in Poland. His research focuses broadly on colonization, race, and racialization in Central and Eastern Europe, and his academic publications have appeared in prestigious journals such as Ethnic and Racial Studies, The Sociological Review and Ethnic and Migration Studies. Dr Balogun has delivered invited lectures at the Columbia University, the City University of New York, the University of Toronto, the College de France, and the European University Institute.
This talk is co-sponsored by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and organized in conjunction with SLAVIC 8575: Seminar in Slavic and East European Literatures and Cultures. Attendance is free and open to the public.
If you have any questions about accessibility or wish to request accommodations, please contact us at cseees@osu.edu. Typically, a two weeks' notice will allow us to provide access.
