Al Jazeera Centre for Studies is set to participate in this year’s Decolonizing Knowledge Production and Circulation Forum, which will be held in Istanbul on 11 and 12 May 2026 with the participation of a wide range of international academics and intellectuals.
The forum will feature a comprehensive academic programme, including plenary and parallel sessions addressing methodologies of knowledge production, higher education, dominant media narratives and development models. It will also dedicate analytical space to Palestine within the context of the reproduction of colonial patterns of control.
The forum is positioned as an international intellectual and academic platform focused on analysing the persistence of colonial structures in shaping the contemporary global order. It places particular emphasis on approaches aimed at dismantling epistemic and institutional dominance across the fields of knowledge, education, media and development. Moreover, it combines academic depth and critical perspective with its engagement with pressing global issues, thereby reinforcing its role as a multidisciplinary dialogue platform.
The event will be held with the participation of a broad network of partners, led by the Institute Social as the main organising body. Other partners include NÛN Foundation for Education and Culture, Boğaziçi University, the Centre for Islamic Studies (İSAM), Fudan University, the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), and the Iqbal Centre for the Study of Contemporary Islam at the University of Leeds, alongside several research institutions and networks across Asia, Europe and the Muslim world.
A number of prominent figures in postcolonial studies, critical epistemology, international politics and media are expected to take part, including Mireille Fanon Mendès-France, Walter Mignolo, Syed Farid Alatas, Salman Sayyid and Joseph Massad, as well as Afua Hirsch, Hatem Bazian and Lilian Thuram.
AJCS’s participation comes within the framework of its interest in strengthening Arab presence in international discussions on knowledge production and circulation, and contributing to the development of critical approaches addressing imbalances in the global knowledge system.
More information about the forum is available at: https://www.decolonizationforum.org/