This one-day symposium brings together scholars exploring methodological and practical approaches to staging meaningful dialogues between critical traditions that share a common object of critique: Western ontologies and epistemologies. As efforts to decolonise curricula and research practices continue, there is a need to develop frameworks for facilitating genuine exchanges between critical traditions marginalised by the West and those working within, but against, the Western episteme. Here, 'the West' and 'Western' should not be understood as fixed or monolithic categories, but as historically situated formations that, while contested, continue to shape academic knowledge production in meaningful ways.

We invite contributions that engage with these intersections through theoretical work, demonstrations of cross-tradition dialogues, or methodological reflections on the challenges and opportunities these conversations present. Papers might explore or be informed by questions such as:

• How can we create genuine, reciprocal dialogues while avoiding extractive or tokenistic approaches?
• How might practices of humility, vulnerability, and an openness to uncertainty shape these conversations?
• What role might the limits of knowing play in fostering meaningful exchange? How do we undertake this work with care — a concept increasingly central to various critical traditions, not least manifold feminist thought?
• How might we do so while remaining mindful of the normative or oppressive modes in which ‘care’ has been or can be mobilised?
• What are the ethical considerations when engaging with historically marginalised scholarship?
• To what extent are reflections on our own situatedness, positionality, or identities as scholars an enabling or constraining condition of such conversations?
• How might we identify appropriate points of intersection between different critical traditions without flattening their distinctiveness?
• What kinds of citational practice are appropriate to such work?

The symposium welcomes submissions from all disciplines engaging with critical theoretical traditions. The event aims to foster a supportive, horizontal environment that can help generate and sustain communities of scholars working on these questions, with the aim of continuing these networks and conversations in the years ahead.

Contributions may take the form of:

• 20-minute paper presentations
• Short reflections (maximum 10 minutes)
• Work-in-progress presentations
• Theoretical work that exemplifies cross-tradition dialogue, even if not explicitly methodological in focus

To submit, please send:

• Title
• Abstract (maximum 400 words)
• Brief reflection on the connection to the symposium themes (if not explicit in the abstract)
• Your preferred presentation format

to Dr Tim Huzar (timothy.huzar@kcl.ac.uk) by the end of Friday 4 April 2025.

This symposium forms part of the Critical Intersections: Navigating Western and Non-Western Intellectual Traditions project at King's College London, which examines how to ethically and appropriately stage conversations between scholarly traditions that challenge dominant Western paradigms. The event is supported by the Global Cultures Institute in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Please note that we are unfortunately unable to provide funding for travel or accommodation expenses.

Image: Bruno Ramos Lara on Unsplash