Presentations by Streams

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has revived scholarly interest in the concept of “decoloniality” in the Baltic context no less than elsewhere. This attention aims to amplify voices that were suppressed during periods of Russian imperial and Soviet domination. Despite a growing number of critical takes on the entangled coloniality of power in postsocialist Baltic region (Annus 2018; Dzenovska 2013, 2018), populist decolonising efforts seem to paradoxically foster isolation and subordination of certain voices and positionalities in the name of liberation. This, however, prioritises universal, rather than pluriversal modes of existence (Mignolo 2018) and overlooks the rich array of knowledges, positionalities, experiences, and emotions involved in the making of a subject (Cariño 2017).

Given this context, we argue for a critical reassessment of the decolonising trajectories in the Baltic states. This involves acknowledging the diverse subjective positions concerning the roles of the coloniser and the colonised, as well as considering social experiences and cultural identities. Following Mignolo’s (2018) argument against a one-size-fits-all approach to decoloniality, this panel seeks to critically deconstruct and reimagine current trends of decolonisation in the Baltic region. Contributions to the panel will offer varied perspectives on methodologically navigating the region’s entangled histories, complex power relations, and both emerging and enduring social hierarchies which perpetuate the existence of the zones of being and nonbeing for its diverse populations. Specifically, the panel will focus on memory studies and the national politics of belonging; identity and the power dynamics of representation; epistemic uncertainty and injustice.