Critically Examining Decolonization: Global Health

Recently, the term decolonization has become widespread. Yet, with its widespread use, there is a worry that the term has been simplified and diluted, devoid of critical examination, introspection and discomfort.

The central questions we wish to interrogate are: Who can speak of decolonization? How do we view decolonization as a constant framework of unlearning and learning? How can we create community spaces for the necessary discomfort and interrogative process that decolonization requires?

Our conference aims to create a space where these questions can be discussed – allowing medical students to begin interrogating questions of power and privilege, and the ways in which they can begin to dismantle the power structures in which they interact. Moreover, global health is inherently local. This conference aims to examine the ways in which global and settler colonialism interact, and the ways in which power asserts itself to silence voices.