RAMBARRAN, NASTASSIA
Researcher @ University of Glasgow
Bio
Dr. Nastassia Rambarran is a researcher, activist, writer, and physician. She received her medical degree from the University of Guyana School of Medicine, has a Master’s in Public Health from University of London, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a post-grad certificate in LGBT Health Policy and Practice from George Washington University. She is currently a second year PhD student with the University of Glasgow, researching queer activism in Barbados and Guyana.
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Social Media
Panel
Colonialism’s crucible: Exploring Caribbean colonial legacies and decolonial practices
Presentation
Journey to Decolonial Caribbean Thoughts
Although I have always existed in a milieu heavily influenced by colonialism and now subjected to neo-imperial transnational forces, my awareness of this influence was largely stunted. Autodidactic development of my intersectional feminism, anti-racism politics and my PhD research has however since deepened an interest in colonialism. Decoloniality emerged from the South American diaspora and is more situated in the theoretical than the cultural realm of post-colonialism (Bhambra, 2014) with decoloniality scholars, in tracing the coloniality of power and knowledge, having argued for moving away from European knowledge production and for an epistemic shift (Bhambra, 2014). This perspective holds tremendous appeal and potential for me, and in this presentation I will chart the journey to my current evolving decolonial praxis and positions, incorporating Caribbean theoretical groundings and touchstones. Given my research focus, a queer lens will also be employed in this mapping.