What is the Decolonise Collective?
The Decolonise Collective is a group of student-staff employed as Decolonise Advocates at the Students’ Union who are working towards building a liberated campus. As a collective, we work alongside Warwick University’s academics, and staff to embed decolonial perspectives across the academic sphere. Similarly, we facilitate spaces for our Liberation Societies (LibSocs) and student campaigners to work together and further grassroots liberation campaigns that seek to transform the university and resultingly the Warwick student experience. We strive to drive change that goes beyond the surface bringing decolonisation to the forefront of the student body’s consciousness, dismantling colonial legacies across the institution in the long run.
We run the SU’s annual Liberation Conference (LibCon) in collaboration with our LibSocs, student campaigners and academics engaged in liberation work. LibCon is completely student run and led - creating a space for students and academics focused on liberatory theory and practice to convene and co-create entirely on students’ terms. Our last LibCon featured workshops and panels facilitated with our fellow student campaigners, academics from the Social Sciences, Arts and SEM faculties and Warwick alumni campaigners.
In addition, we facilitate the SU’s Liberation Assemblies that act as discursive and feedback spaces for campaigners to engage with one another, and where students can raise pressing concerns around liberation issues and work with the Advocates to suggest solutions. Beyond this, we have acted as an advisory body to Student-Staff Liaison Committees seeking to expand their anti-racist practices, we have researched the sector’s practices and initiatives around decolonisation, and we are working to produce a central database of the University’s decolonisation initiatives.
This year the Decolonise Project will be driven by our Vice-President for Education, Ananya Sreekumar who is a former Decolonise Advocate and is hoping to promote anti-racist and decolonial praxis through her role as a Full-Time Officer.
How can I get involved?
There are numerous ways to get involved…
… Apply to become a Decolonise Advocate!
Working as a Decolonise Advocate will give you the opportunity to do the campaigning work you are passionate about, you’ll be able to make your liberatory projects come to life, and you’ll be an essential part of the day-to-day running of the SU. Each year we employ 4 Decolonise Advocates.
To stay on top of jobs available at the SU, register here: 🔔 Warwick SU Job Alerts – Sign Up Form
… Attend our Liberation Assemblies
Our Liberation Assemblies are run on a termly basis, the first iteration of the Liberation Assembly occurred in late Term 3 of the last academic year. The Liberation Assemblies are open spaces for discussion and feedback, and there’s free pizza! Keep an eye on the All-Member’s email sent out by our President every fortnight for the exact dates of the next Liberation Assembly.
… Get involved in the Liberation Conference!
As mentioned earlier, the Liberation Conference is a space for collaboration… and this year it’s going National!! If you’re a student society, or a student engaged in liberation work, get in touch with the Decolonise Collective decolonisecollective@warwicksu.com and let us know if you’d like to be involved with the planning of a National Conference, hold a stall at the conference, or interested in volunteering on the day!
What’s next for the Liberation Conference?
This year is our fifth Liberation Conference, and we are going National! We are hoping to build on our previous successes and expand our scope. This year the preliminary theme is “Forging Solidarities”, and we will be exploring how the conference can build bridges, not just within Warwick’s campus, but across the sector. Watch this space!
Why have we partnered with WSU?
- Utilising existing networks with students, societies and academics who have collaborated on previous projects such as Liberation Conference 2024
- Creating a physical space for student activists and campaigners to come into the SU and collaborate with the collective
- Developing and embedding a wider culture of decolonising within the SU by linking in with a range of departments
- Giving students the opportunity to directly participate and transform their experience and become involved