Join us for our in-person monthly reading group!
Juneโs in-person reading group will be led by Mohammed Elnaiem.
Culture is a terrain where the white right is winning major political power, territory and consent. The left must meet them on that terrain. We will discuss the ideas of Stuart Hall and Antonio Gramsci on the politics of culture to help us better understand the ideological crisis of the left today and to recognise culture as a site of political struggle and terrain for a new socialist politics.
Texts will include ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด๐ค๐ช ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ด and ๐๐ข๐ณ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด by Stuart Hall as well as readings on Metapolitics.
Print-outs will be provided as well as teas and light snacks. Tickets are Pay What You Can; all proceeds will help us continue funding the work we do.
Schedule
3.30pm - Doors open (snacks + teas)
4.00pm - Group reading + Discussion
4.30pm - BREAK
4.40pm - Group reading + Discussion
6pm - Close
This event is part of our monthly reading series. Through mid-month gatherings we collectively read and study decolonial ideas and history, building community along the way. Each month we will explore pressing questions from a decolonial lens, offering space to think critically about the challenge of dismantling the enduring legacies of colonialism today.
This reading group will be followed by a talk and workshop at the Africa Centre led by Elnaiem on fighting the culture wars beyond liberal responses to fascism. For more information, click here!
Venue and Physical Accessibility
The event will be held at Whitechapel Gallery in the Study Studio on the first floor. Unfortunately, the lift at the gallery is not in working order so the room is only accessible via the stairs at the moment. The closest stations are Aldgate East (District and Hammersmith & City lines) as well as Whitechapel (District, Hammersmith & City, and Elizabeth lines). There are accessible bathrooms on the same floor. If you have any accessibility needs, please let us know in advance and we will do our best to accommodate them. For more information go to https://www.whitechapelgallery.org/visit-2/access/.
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Mohammed Elaniem is a Sudanese political activist and the director of the Decolonial Centre, an anti-colonial political education project.
The Decolonial Centre is a political education platform committed to spreading anti-colonial and decolonial perspectives on history, social theory, and current affairs. We deliver our work via our Newscast episodes, Decolonial Encyclopaedia, and community events. By fostering solidarity and collaboration, we aim to amplify the powerful movements at the forefront of challenging and dismantling the enduring legacies of colonialism today. Our vision is to help inspire a new intergenerational cohort of activists that pushes for systems change and creates links between communities in struggle.
(Image credit: Abstract Watercolor, Beauford Delaney, 1958)