Successful book launch and seminar from visiting scholar
Postdoctoral Fellow from KU Leuven in Belgium launched his new book at the University of Leeds in May.
Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) and the Global Political Economy group (GPE) at the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) hosted an engaging seminar and lecture with Dr Yusuf Serunkuma.
POLIS and LUCAS were really wonderful hosts, and I would love to come back many, many times. The intellectual environment was fully stimulating, the students asked tough questions, and we had some really engaging discussion.
The seminar, ‘Breaking the bank: rereading forgery and fraud in the postcolonial neo-colonized world’, chaired by Jeremiah Arowosegbe, examined how counterfeit and forgery can be understood as forms of resistance to level the playing field where colonial, modern bureaucracy is both disconnected from lived realities whilst also privileging those in power. Through a focus on the manufacture of documents in East Africa, the seminar analysed how people were able to negotiate livelihoods within a system designed to keep them outside. For Emeritus Professor Raymond Bush, ‘the seminar was an important counter to neo liberal and dominant conservative views on Africa that criminality is rife and needs improved policing and management. Instead, Dr Serunkuma problematises criminality, posing challenges to 'law and order' as emancipatory and as building blocks of resistance and strategies to undermine persistence of empire. An excellent seminar and discussion.’
Listening to both Dr. Yusuf Serunkuma and Dr. Jörg Wiegratz, who kindly hosted the event, left me greatly inspired. Their knowledge, passion, and humility reminded me why I love learning.
The seminar was followed by a lecture from Dr Serunkuma, and a book launch chaired by Associate Professor Jörg Wiegratz. The book, Surrounded: Towards a Critical Decolonial Theory, is a powerful collection of essays calling for revolutionary action against disguised forms of new colonialism. Drawing from critical legal studies and critical race theory, the work introduces critical decolonial theory (CDT) and examines modern political ideas such as civil society, democracy, human rights and scholarship (‘publish or perish’) as tools of colonial control. The lecture explored how these ideas perpetuate colonialist extractions, urging a rethinking of Afrocentric versions of these concepts.
I was truly pleased to play a part in organising Dr Yusuf Serunkuma’s seminar and book presentation at the University of Leeds. His seminar was both intellectually stimulating and highly engaging, sparking thoughtful discussion and reflection among attendees. The book presentation was equally compelling.
Dr Yusuf Serunkuma is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, at KU Leuven in Belgium. He is a cultural studies major, who focuses on nationalist sentiments and new colonialism. He has researched and taught courses in decolonial studies, literature and political economy. He is also a columnist in Ugandan newspapers, The Observer and a playwright. He is the author of the play, The Snake Farmers, a recommended reading for high schools in Rwanda and Ugandan. The Meat Festivals by Fountain Publishers is his latest play and is also recommended for high school curricula in Uganda. Dr Serunkuma writes regularly for ROAPE, The Elephant in Kenya and the Pan-African Review in Rwanda. His latest book is titled Surrounded: Democracy, Free Markets and Other Entrapments of New Colonialism (Kampala: Editor House Facility, 2025).
Jeremiah O. Arowosegbe teaches Intellectual History, Political Theory and African Politics in POLIS. His research focuses on African intellectual history, African political thought, African politics, African studies, development studies, postcolonial studies, and the epistemologies of contemporary Africa.
Dr Abel Ugba is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, and Acting Director of LUCAS. He is the Taught Postgraduate Studies Director in the School and convenes the Society, Culture and Media MA programme. His areas of expertise include the sociology of religion; media and religion; media and migration, media and global development; and journalism and new media.
Dr Jörg Wiegratz is Associate Professor of Global Political Economy and Development, specialising in the political and moral economy of neoliberalism in Africa. He is a member of the GPE group at POLIS, LUCAS and the Centre for Global Development in the School of Politics and International Studies here at the University of Leeds.
