In 1955, at the Bandung Conference held in Indonesia, newly independent countries of the Global South affirmed their solidarity against states of imperialism and the economy of extraction and dispossession. They also claimed their aspiration to find their own road to freedom and development, which some summarized as “neither Washington or Moscow.” Imperialism is still about extracting resources, and for doing so, it needs armies and police; it needs to trivialize racism and the carceral economy; it naturalizes the deaths of thousands of people from the Global South at the European borders and in the Mediterranean. Yet European societies require the exploitation of the women and men that they make vulnerable, to provide all kinds of goods and services, such as cleaning, caretaking, and delivery. It is thus important to build strong networks and routes of solidarity that respect the dignity of all.

In the spirit of the 1955 Bandung Conference, the committee of the Bandung of the North organized an international conference that was held in Paris in 2018. It was one of the first international conferences to take up the issues of People of Color who are living in the Global North. Following the conference held in Paris, a new iteration organized within the framework of PEI in 2023 will bring together artists, activists, and scholars to solidify a new political consciousness and antiracist practices. The objective is to enhance economic, ethical, spiritual, and artistic forms of transmission and imagination in which the liberation in the North adds to the liberation of the South. This new edition of a Bandung rests on decolonial and abolitionist theory. It aims to produce a rich and stimulating critique of Eurocentrism, so as to contribute to the necessary transformation of the world in a time of multiple crises. During the symposium, participants will discuss the current state of permanent war, political antiracism against police violence, colonial occupation, imperialism, and revolutionary peace.

In collaboration with La Colonie Nomade
With: Abbeey Odunlami, Andreas Malm, Francoise Vergees, Micheele Sibony, Mohamed Amer Meziane, Naeem Mohaiemen, Olivier Marboeuf, Ramoen Grosfoquel, Sandew Hira, Selim Nadi a.o.