With Palestine In Mind: Global Historical Sociologies of Decolonization

The movements for national liberation that accelerated after the Second World War provide historically oriented social scientists with empirical and theoretical resources for rethinking sociology’s concepts, methods, and analytical frameworks. Decolonization was both a political process and a source of new intellectual traditions, state and institutional projects, and visions of social and political change rooted in material realities. Anticolonial struggles led to sustained reflections on freedom, sovereignty, solidarity and development from positions often marginalized within dominant sociological canons. Recent global developments, particularly since October 7, 2023, have underscored the continuing significance of colonialism, imperialism, national liberation, and resistance. The struggle for Palestinian liberation and the genocide in Gaza have renewed attention to the limits of the so-called “rules-based international order,” highlighting the importance of global historical sociologies of decolonization for understanding contemporary political realities and ongoing global transformations. Revisiting these histories can illuminate both the persistence of imperialism and relevance of anticolonial thought for sociological inquiry today. This panel invites papers that explore the structural, institutional, political, social, and ideational dimensions of decolonization and their relevance for understanding the contemporary world. We are particularly interested in analyses of the intellectual production of anticolonial scholars, activists, movements, institutions, and transnational networks, as well as the incorporation of these traditions into sociological theory. By bringing anticolonial concepts, theories, and political projects into dialogue with contemporary sociological debates, the panel seeks to advance new approaches to studying decolonization in both past and present, and its enduring significance for sociology and contemporary global realities.