How are these processes related? How are Dutch universities implicated? And how can we move forward? Join us for talks with researchers and activists on fossil fuels, BDS and the global arms trade.
Chihiro Geuzebroek has been active in anti-war protests since 2003 and as a climate justice organiser since 2009. She is co-founder of the decolonial foundation Aralez and currently teaches at the Sandberg Institute as lecturer of the master's degree Planetary Poetics.
Oscar Talbot is a PhD candidate in the department of philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, working on the relationship between ecological critique of the state and abolition theory. He is a part of the ASCA research project Abolition Democracies. As an activist scholar, he works towards an 'abolition ecology' which understands the military-industrial complex through environmental history and formulates a way out.
Mark Akkerman is a researcher at Stop Wapenhandel and for the Transnational Institute, working on arms trade, the arms industry, its lobby, border militarisation and EU funding and policies in these regards. Currently working on a report on the involvement of universities in EU border security and control. He is also active in several action groups in the peace and no border movements.
Stefana Feciuc is a law student, currently active in both the Law Faculty Student Council (FdR-FSR) and the Central Student Council. Within the CSR, Stefana has helped write an unsolicited advice about third-party collaborations with the fossil fuel industry, a discussion that was precipitated by the two student occupations from this year (of the Amsterdam Academic Hall and the Roeterseiland ABC building). As a student representative, Stefana is part of the Activistenpartij, which is part of the Amsterdam Autonomous Coalition. The members of the coalition uphold a vision of education that is decolonised, democratised, and decarbonised.
Itaï van de Wal (he/him) is a junior legal officer at the European Legal Support Center, which provides free legal advice and support to Palestinian rights advocates in Europe. As part of his work, Itaï is working on a case against the Dutch universities for refusing to comply with FOIA requests about their human rights policy on Palestine.
Chris de Ploeg, the moderator of the evening, is a grassroots organiser, speaker and investigative journalist, writing and organizing on decolonisation, climate justice and capitalism. He is co-founder and core organiser at Aralez, a grassroots organization for decolonisation, and at Arts of Resistance, a coalition bridging social movements and the arts. Currently, he is also one of the programme makers of the Decolonial Dialogues at the UvA. You can find his work on his website.