On 26 and 27 April, Dr. Ali Meghji will present the theme of his new book A Critical Synergy: Race, Decoloniality, and World Crises at Ghent University. The event forms part of the project How to decolonize the university? Reflections and practices at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences Public, a series of lectures and workshops organised by the University of Ghent since 2021.

Dr Meghji will share his work on critical race theory and decolonial thought. Event promotion states: "Despite these differences, he asserts that the two approaches can be used in tandem with one another, and demonstrates this using the case study of the rise of far-right populism in Brexit Britain and Trump America. In total, this talk advocates for a ‘synergy’ between critical race theory and decolonial thought, which pays attention to both national racialized social systems and global coloniality."

Following the book presentation, PhD students will be able to attend a workshop with the author entitled 'Applying critical race theory and (de)coloniality to case studies from the Global North and South'.

Coloniality, critical race studies and decolonialism have emerged as strong topics in Belgium's public life over the last few years, in particular following the much-publicised Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. Commissions and research projects are being progressively developed as the country is still grappling with issues stemming from its colonial history. The questions of restitution, reparation and acknowledgement - as well as migration issues - have a strong impact on the notions of living together and social cohesion in Belgium.

Dr Ali Meghji is Associate Professor of Social Inequalities in the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge. He is the author of Decolonizing Sociology (Polity Press, 2020) and Black Middle Class Britannia: Identities, Repertoires, Cultural Consumption (Manchester University Press, 2019). He is editor-in-chief of Sociology Compass, and sits on the editorial board of Cultural Sociology and the British Journal of Sociology.