New Delhi, Dec. 21: The DeConquista International Academic Conference will be held at Aspin Courtyards in Calicut from December 23rd to 25th. Jointly organized by SIO Kerala and the Campus Alive web magazine, the event will feature over 20 sessions. Adopting a hybrid format, the conference will host more than 50 scholars from around the world.
The conference serves as a critical forum for reassessing historical narratives and promoting transformative perspectives on decolonial thought, Muslim identity, and geopolitical dynamics. Stemming from the incursion into Muslim Iberia in 1492, known as the Reconquista – a pivotal historical juncture often confined to oversimplified political and military narratives – the conference aims to scrutinize modernity’s colonial power structures and their enduring impact on contemporary crises.
Central to the conference’s discourse is the intersectionality of the Palestinian issue with Muslimness in decolonization dialogues. The event will engage in critical analyses of paradigm shifts catalyzed by Thufan Ul Aqsa, seeking to deconstruct Orientalist frameworks and Eurocentric interpretations that historically marginalized alternative perspectives. Emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach, the conference intersects decolonization theory, Islamic thought, and Muslim politics to cultivate nuanced understandings of the complex dynamics shaping contemporary discourse.
JIH Kerala Ameer P Mujeeb Rahman will inaugurate the conference on Friday, with SIO National President Ramees Velom as the chief guest.
Other guest speakers include Salman Sayyid, a Professor of Rhetoric and Decolonial Thought at the University of Leeds, who has been instrumental in shaping Critical Muslim Studies and post-Western political theory. Joining him will be Abdool Karim Vakil from King’s College London who brings insights into Islamophobia.
Also, there will be South African scholar Farid Esack, currently a Research Professor at the University of Johannesburg, who focuses on Critical Issues in Contemporary Islam and Islamic Liberation Theology; and MT Ansari, a Professor at the University of Hyderabad, who offers nuanced perspectives rooted in Southern Asian literature and comparative studies.
Other guests are Rev. Y.T. Vinayaraj from Dharma Jyoti Vidya Peeth, New Delhi; Activist and National Secretary of Fraternity Movement, Afreen Fatima; Dr. Abdussalam Ahmed, Rector of Al Jamia Al Islamiya, Shanthapuram, Kerala.
