Stephen Ellis Debate on Decolonisation as an Expression of African Agency Reworlding the World in a Time of Global Turbulence

What does decolonisation mean today, and what can it tell us about African agency in a rapidly changing world?

The 12th edition of the Stephen Ellis Annual Event will explore decolonisation not simply as a historical process, but as an ongoing project of political, intellectual and social transformation.

Professor Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni (University of Calgary) will deliver the keynote lecture, “Decolonisation as an Expression of African Agency: Reworlding the World in a Time of Global Turbulence.”

In his lecture, Ndlovu-Gatsheni challenges interpretations that dismiss decolonisation as nativism, victimhood, ideological fashion or an increasingly empty concept. Instead, he approaches decolonisation as one of the most significant expressions of African agency and as a broad project aimed at remaking the world from the perspective of those historically subjected to colonial domination.

Tracing a long history of decolonial thought and action, from the Haitian Revolution and the Battle of Adwa to Pan-Africanism, Bandung, African liberation movements and the New International Economic Order, the lecture will consider how decolonisation has changed over time. In the twenty-first century, decolonial struggles increasingly extend beyond the nation-state and can be seen in debates around universities, restitution, reparations, African and Indigenous languages, and epistemic justice.

Engaging seriously with Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s Against Decolonisation (2022), Ndlovu-Gatsheni will examine and reject the argument that decolonisation infantilises Africans, instead presenting decolonisation as a powerful expression of African agency.

He will conclude by proposing “reworlding” as the positive content of decolonisation: not a return to a lost purity, but the construction of a pluriversal world, an ecology of knowledges and what Fanon called a new humanism.

Following the keynote lecture, Prof. Mayke Kaag, Amal Clous and Dr Joseph Sony Jean will reflect on the ideas raised and discuss what decolonisation and African agency might mean in contemporary academic, cultural and political contexts.

The discussion will be moderated by Mpho Andrea Tutu van Furth and will include opportunities for audience participation. Professor Ndlovu-Gatsheni will join the event online from Canada, while the moderator and panellists will participate in person at Wereldmuseum Leiden.

More information about the speakers, panellists and programme will follow soon.

► The debate takes place on 10 December 2026 at 16:00-18:00 in the Pavilion at The Wereldmuseum Leiden and will be followed by drinks.