{"title": "Book launch: 'Decolonizing African Politics: Bridging the Contours of Debate'", "start": "2026-10-27T18:00:00Z", "end": null, "place": "SOAS University of London", "address": "", "price": "", "price_from": null, "price_to": null, "tickets_url": "", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": [], "description": "A book launch for 'Decolonizing African Politics: Bridging the Contours of Debate', held as a conversation between the author and a fellow academic. It is written by Dr Michael Amoah, a Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London, who discusses it with Zoë Marriage, Professor of Security and International Development there. The book approaches Politics and International Relations from postcolonial and decolonial perspectives, offering empirical rebuttals to existing imperial and neocolonial narratives. It examines the etymologies of key concepts and topics used when teaching or discussing Africa at universities, and is aimed at scholars and students of African politics and international relations.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/book-launch-decolonizing-african-politics-bridging-the-conto-43635/", "official_url": "https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/book-launch-decolonizing-african-politics-bridging-contours-debate", "image": "https://noky.io/images/b20d5f62991558bd8c6a045151780fdb6d2651c6cac7119f96486e3661d7baf5-2000.webp", "dates": [{"start": "2026-10-27T18:00:00Z", "end": null, "place": "SOAS University of London", "address": "", "tickets": ""}], "similar": [{"title": "Book launch: 'Decolonizing Afghanistan: Countering Imperial Knowledge and Power'", "start": "2026-11-10T17:30:00Z", "end": null, "place": "SOAS University of London", "address": "", "price": "Free to attend, but registration is required", "price_from": "0.00", "price_to": "0.00", "tickets_url": "https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/JNUxM7FKnS", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["history/colonialism", "society/media"], "description": "A book launch for 'Decolonizing Afghanistan: Countering Imperial Knowledge and Power', hosted by the SOAS Middle East Institute and the SOAS South Asia Institute at SOAS University of London. The book, published by Duke University Press, is edited by Wazhmah Osman and Robert D. Crews and offers cross-disciplinary, ground-up perspectives on colonial projects in Afghanistan, focusing on the US intervention that began in 2001. Contributors Dawood Azami, Marya Hannun and Wazhmah Osman will discuss media narratives, information warfare and knowledge production, and how visual tropes and ideologies shape portrayals of Afghanistan. Attendance is free but registration is required, with seating allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/book-launch-decolonizing-afghanistan-countering-imperial-kno-43667/", "official_url": "https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/book-launch-decolonizing-afghanistan-countering-imperial-knowledge-and-power", "image": "https://noky.io/images/5a3032d06453f61472b5faf6331ace0c9f76c3a2e2be8952a7d176992e71c768-2000.webp"}, {"title": "Book launch: Escaping the Conflict Trap?", "start": "2026-11-09T14:00:00Z", "end": null, "place": "King's College London, Strand Campus", "address": "Strand, WC2R 2LS London", "price": "", "price_from": null, "price_to": null, "tickets_url": "https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-escaping-the-conflict-trap-tickets-2002616053525?aff=oddtdtcreator", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["history/africa", "literature"], "description": "A book launch at King's College London's Strand Campus for 'Escaping the Conflict Trap?: Seeking Stability in Liberia and Sierra Leone'. It is hosted by the Africa Research Group, with Alan Doss and David Harris discussing the book they wrote together. Drawing on his experience as a practitioner and his as an academic, they explore the peace processes in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the actors involved and the factors that shaped peacebuilding, comparing the two with the Democratic Republic of Congo. A panel with Mats Berdal, Felix Marco Conteh and chair Kieran Mitton follows, ending with questions from the audience.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/book-launch-escaping-the-conflict-trap-80732/", "official_url": "https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/book-launch-escaping-the-conflict-trap", "image": ""}, {"title": "2026 BRISMES Annual Lecture: Beyond Bearing Witness: Palestine, Knowledge Production and the Political Economy of the Future", "start": "2026-11-12T17:30:00Z", "end": null, "place": "SOAS University of London", "address": "", "price": "Free, registration required", "price_from": "0.00", "price_to": "0.00", "tickets_url": "https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2026-brismes-annual-lecture-tickets-2003047622359", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["society/politics/israel-palestine", "history/colonialism"], "description": "A public lecture, also streamed online, discussing what forms of knowledge and analysis are needed beyond documenting conditions in Palestine. The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) presents its 2026 Annual Lecture with Rafeef Ziadah, co-hosted at SOAS by the Centre for Palestine Studies and the SOAS Middle East Institute, chaired by Dina Matar. It examines the political and economic projects being assembled around Palestine, including infrastructures of regional integration, energy, logistics, reconstruction and normalisation. Admission is free, but registration is required and seating is first come, first served.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/2026-brismes-annual-lecture-beyond-bearing-witness-palestine-50444/", "official_url": "https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/2026-brismes-annual-lecture-beyond-bearing-witness-palestine-knowledge-production-and", "image": ""}, {"title": "Book Launch Leila Aboulela: Writing as Refuge by Bhakti Shringarpure", "start": "2026-11-10T17:00:00Z", "end": null, "place": "SOAS University of London", "address": "", "price": "", "price_from": null, "price_to": null, "tickets_url": "https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-leila-aboulela-writing-as-refuge-by-bhakti-shringarpure-tickets-2003254884285?aff=oddtdtcreator", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["history/africa", "literature/biography"], "description": "A book launch for 'Leila Aboulela: Writing as Refuge' by Bhakti Shringarpure, the first full-length biography of the acclaimed Sudanese writer and the first in a forthcoming series of African writers' biographies. Shringarpure, a Paris-based writer, editor and producer, explores Aboulela's childhood in Khartoum, her migration to Scotland and her journey to becoming a writer, weaving together interviews and literary criticism. The event is chaired by Ida Hadjivayanis, Director of the Centre of African Studies at SOAS.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/book-launch-leila-aboulela-writing-as-refuge-by-bhakti-shrin-43665/", "official_url": "https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/book-launch-leila-aboulela-writing-refuge-bhakti-shringarpure", "image": "https://noky.io/images/b5081017267e2d8397560b2747988e4a45aa08072c024c218e8f68ca58cdefaa-2000.webp"}, {"title": "Hope Working Group: Roundtable and Book Launch, David Chandler's Hope (Routledge Shortcuts)", "start": "2026-11-12T17:30:00Z", "end": null, "place": "University of Westminster", "address": "", "price": "", "price_from": null, "price_to": null, "tickets_url": "https://westminster.cventevents.com/wQzkNa", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["literature/books", "society/politics"], "description": "A roundtable and book launch for David Chandler's Hope (Routledge Shortcuts), hosted by the Hope Working Group. Discussants include Noga Glucksam, Seán Molloy, Nitasha Kaul and Emma McCluskey, chaired by Aidan Hehir. The book explores the politics of hope against a world shaped by global crises, from political disillusionment to catastrophic climate change. Copies will be available to buy for £20 cash only.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/hope-working-group-roundtable-and-book-launch-david-chandler-70738/", "official_url": "https://www.westminster.ac.uk/events/hope-working-group-roundtable-and-book-launch-david-chandlers-hope-routledge-shortcuts", "image": ""}, {"title": "Sara Ahmed on Complaining, Again! Lecture", "start": "2026-11-10T18:45:00Z", "end": null, "place": "Institute of Contemporary Arts", "address": "The Mall, London", "price": "", "price_from": null, "price_to": null, "tickets_url": "https://ica.art/shop", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["literature/non-fiction", "society/feminism"], "description": "A special lecture titled \"Sara Ahmed on Complaining, Again!\" taking place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The scholar Sara Ahmed reflects on what it means to give \"a feminist ear\" to complaint, marking the publication of her new book No is Not a Lonely Utterance: The Art and Activism of Complaining (2025). Coinciding with Autumn Knight's exhibition I Can't Complain, she considers how complaint can bring people together, enabling new solidarities and alliances in the struggle for change. Ahmed is an independent queer feminist scholar of colour whose work is concerned with how power is experienced and challenged in everyday life and institutional cultures.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/sara-ahmed-on-complaining-again-lecture-36637/", "official_url": "https://ica.art/exhibitions/lecture-sara-ahmed-on-complaining-again", "image": "https://noky.io/images/3eab35294f01b762fcd761e9d14415d5d3af9665def5caba0cc2a4cced5ed6f2-1200.webp"}, {"title": "SOAS Baraza Swahili Studies Conference", "start": "2026-10-31T00:00:00Z", "end": "2026-11-01T00:00:00Z", "place": "SOAS University of London", "address": "", "price": "", "price_from": null, "price_to": null, "tickets_url": "https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/baraza-swahili-studies-conference-at-soas-tickets-2002396104652?aff=oddtdtcreator", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["history", "literature", "society"], "description": "The SOAS Baraza Swahili Studies Conference is an academic gathering on Swahili studies, running over two days at SOAS University of London. It is the 13th annual edition, hosted by SOAS, and fosters exchange of new and emerging research among Swahili scholars and students. This year's theme, 'Retrieving the past, reshaping knowledge', explores how communities, texts, artistic traditions and digital forms draw on the past to create new knowledge, identity and expression. Papers cover Swahili language and linguistics, culture and society, and Swahili literary and cultural writings, with a second day devoted to Hausa, Ikinyarwanda and Kiswahili sessions.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/soas-baraza-swahili-studies-conference-43653/", "official_url": "https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/soas-baraza-swahili-studies-conference", "image": ""}, {"title": "The conservative tradition in sociological thought", "start": "2026-11-04T18:30:00Z", "end": "2026-11-04T20:00:00Z", "place": "London School of Economics and Political Science", "address": "Houghton Street, WC2A 2AE London", "price": "", "price_from": null, "price_to": null, "tickets_url": "", "category": "talks-readings", "tags": ["society"], "description": "A public lecture on how conservative ideas have shaped sociology, held in person at LSE and streamed online. It is hosted by the Department of Sociology and forms part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2026. The speaker is Shamus Khan, Willard Thorp professor of sociology and American Studies at Princeton University, whose lecture is based on a paper co-authored with former LSE Director Craig Calhoun, and it is chaired by sociologist Sam Friedman. The lecture explores themes including hierarchy and authority, appeals to nature and God, family and community, and traditionalism and skepticism toward narratives of progress.", "url": "https://noky.io/en/london/events/the-conservative-tradition-in-sociological-thought-74266/", "official_url": "https://www.lse.ac.uk/events/conservative-tradition-sociological-thought", "image": "https://noky.io/images/d378848e4f068daaec0411583b342c4edb12080d6bcde4c450a345458c3e8c45-1200.webp"}]}