Atenchong attended the aptly named Reversing the Gaze Conference which took place on the 12 and13 September 2024 in Basel, Switzerland. The conference – organised by a consortium of partners from the Centre for African Studies, University of Basel, Institute for European Global Studies, University of Basel, Edinburgh law School, University of Edinburgh and the Department of Geography, University of Zurich, -brought together over 40 scholars from around the world to reflect on the use of concepts across borders in the social sciences. The aim of the conference was to examine cases of applying socio-scientific concepts across regional or historical contexts, and to explore the epistemological and methodological implications of turning the gaze traditionally directed at ‘the Rest’ onto the West for a change.
Figure 6 Reversing the Gaze Conference, Basel Switzerland 13.09.2024
Feeling the need for more critical reflections on these concepts from a ‘Global South’ perspective, and charting a praxis of ‘Reversing the Gaze’ that would go beyond the conference, a group of African scholars then initiated a post-conference dialogue which aims to position the idea of Reversing the Gaze as a decolonial praxis/methodology. The post-conference conversation was facilitated by Atenchong, with one goal being to explore how such dialogue may contribute to the conceptual framing of the Reversing the Gaze: Knowledge Stories and the Struggles for Community Land Rights in Scotland project.
Along with a group of five African scholars, we grappled with what ‘Reversing the Gaze’ means to the subaltern or the marginalised (as variously understood), why it is important during these negative moments in global politics, and what might be the limitations and tools needed for engaging with ‘reversing the gaze’ as a methodological concept, including the importance of indigenous/local language and culture.
Link to conversation podcast: https://rau.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=3b06f1b4-898b-457c-8fe8-b20d00d4153c