In this lecture, Dr Natalie McGuire, Curator at Barbados Museum & Historical Society, explores decolonial museology through the case study of the Barbados Museum & Historical Society (BMHS), examining how the institution has sought to redistribute interpretive power and reimagine its collections as spaces of community-led knowledge sharing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNxFGW_C3yA
Tracing the historical frameworks of museology in Barbados from its colonial origins to the shifting paradigms of post-independence and republic status the session situates local practice within global discourses of New Museology, anti-colonial resistance, and decolonial relationality (Mignolo).
Through projects such as Artistic Interventions (2018), LOOKA: Dismantling the Colonial Gaze (2024), and the Transoceanic Visual Exchange (TVE) triennial, the lecture highlights experimental models of democratic co-curatorship that foreground multivocality, accessibility, and community agency. These initiatives reflect a broader methodological framework developed by McGuire known as the Rhizomatic Research Methodology, which emphasises assemblage, relational ecologies, and localised approaches to decolonising knowledge production in museums.
By uncovering hidden narratives, interrogating visual hegemonies, and embracing collective authorship, the BMHS continues to challenge inherited structures of colonial museology. Ultimately, this talk proposes that decolonisation in museums is not a static act but an ongoing, relational process of redistributing institutional authority, amplifying community voices, and reconfiguring museums as living, multivocal ecologies of cultural meaning.
Dr McGuire has kindly provided the following resources for further reading on this topic:
The "boxes and fence" image is arguably the most widely shared visual in racial justice work. But it was never created for that purpose, and its limitations show. We have reimagined it, shifting the emphasis from individuals navigating barriers to dismantling the structural and systemic barriers that stand in the way of liberation.
This report examines how public health services and systems can address the impacts of structural racism on mental health, and calls for a shift in power to communities.
Brianah Carter and Kathleen M. Quinlan find that the everyday labour of navigating predominantly white spaces shapes how Black British students see themselves – and their education
This webinar is a timely reminder that we can challenge the system. It will explore the concerns of safety and security for Britain’s Black youth, and what role democratic participation can play in addressing these concerns. This webinar is about allowing Britain’s Black youth to shape their future and actively participate in the democratic process however they feel able to.
When I was staring at the data tables behind the HEPI/Kortext Student Generative Artificial Intelligence Survey the other day, something quite significant jumped out.
Latest Updates New national polling reveals scale of antisemitism crisis on UK campuses Latest Updates New national polling reveals scale of antisemitism crisis on UK campuses March 16 2026 Union of Jewish Students (UJS)
This publication sets out this government’s vision for a fair, tolerant and decent country and the steps we are taking to tackle threats to social cohesion.
The first National Disabled Staff Survey exposes the deep structural barriers faced by disabled staff in higher education. Susan Wilbraham, Ruth Gilligan, and Jackie Carter draw on the voices of the sector to explain more
created by a collaborative team of historians, artists, and musician for 11-16 year olds based on the life of Billy Waters: a 19th century disabled African American street performer. It includes music and a graphic novel with accompanying free teaching material.
The chart below is an updated version of our annual monitoring reports into legal implementations of the Marrakesh Treaty around the world. Where a country has been updated or added since the last report, this is indicated with an asterisk. Information is sourced from contacts with library associations, associations representing people with print disabilities, expert inputs, and desk-based research into copyright laws .
The categorisations of what laws permit are based on our evaluation of what the law says. This document should not be relied upon as legal advice, but can provide a starting point for further investigation. For clarification on the terminology and questions used, see the information at the bottom of the document. Corrections, clarifications and improvements are highly welcome – please feel free to send them to ifla@ifla.org.
An online talk on 19 February 2026 which explored the materials and histories of black activist publishing in the UK from the 1970s.
Organized by the George Padmore Institute and Arielle Lawson of People's Papers and co-sponsored by the Institute of Race Relations and the Centre for the Dynamics of Ethnicity, this event focused on the archival legacy and continued significance of the black radical press — as made up of grassroots newspapers, political journals and other activist print publications — in 1970s Britain and what we can still learn from these materials today.
The Speakers Leila Hassan Howe is a British editor, writer and anti-racism activist. A founding member of the Brixton-based Race Today Collective, Leila edited the Race Today magazine from 1985. The publication played a pivotal role in highlighting the issues faced by black communities in the UK as well as race relations across the world from 1973 until its closure in 1988.
Nigel de Noronha is a researcher at the Centre for the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) at the University of Manchester. His main research focus is on housing, race and migration, and he uses archival methods to explore the historical context of the persistent housing inequalities experienced by racialised minorities.
Sophia Siddiqui works at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), an anti-racist charity working to inform the struggle for racial justice. She is the joint editor of the IRR’s international journal Race & Class, and she writes on issues related to the far right and community resistance.
George Padmore Institute The GPI is an archive preserving the stories of black, Caribbean, African and Asian activist communities. To learn more about our work and sign up to our newsletter, please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of9E5E-hpqs&t=139s
Race Equality Foundation’s new report reveals how structural racism, insecure work and inadequate sick pay are driving a growing health crisis for Black and Asian workers in the UK.
This report by the Fairness Foundation and the Black Equity Organisation combines facts and figures onthe nature, causes, and consequences of racial inequalities in wealth with two comparative case studies.These interviews bring the data to life by exploring the experiences of two men of the same age, earningsimilar salaries in the same city. One is White and has benefited from financial support from his family;the other is Black Caribbean and has not. The study examines how race and class inequalities intersectwith wealth disparities in the UK and offers recommendations for how policymakers should respond.The online version of this report is at https://fairnessfoundation.com/a-tale-of-two-city-dwellers.
This briefing note examines how being in deep poverty in childhood – proxied by eligibility to free school meals at age 16 – continues to shape graduates’ earnings long after university. Using the Longitudinal Education Outcomes dataset to track the education and work pathways of 520,000 graduates...
No Representation, No Peace exposes how Africa’s exclusion from permanent membership on the UN Security Council continues to undermine global peace and security. Drawing on case studies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Sahara, the report shows how decisions taken without African representation have fuelled implementation failures, sidelined local voices, and entrenched […]
Intergroup hate—both shaped by and shaping development processes—is spreading worldwide as hate speech becomes normalized, hate groups proliferate, and political discourse increasingly frames opponents as enemies rather than as partners in compromise. Drawing on historical, economic, political, and social-psychological research, this paper synthesizes 10 drivers of intergroup hate into four interlocking components: history, current context, call to arms, and justification of mistreatment. These components form a self-reinforcing cycle that escalates animosity and legitimizes harm, making hate difficult—but not impossible—to disrupt. The paper shows how the 10 drivers interact over time and uses the cycle of hate framework to organize evidence from experiments and program evaluations aimed at reducing intergroup animosity.
A useful practical guide developed for library staff in UK academic settings which encourages decolonisation and inclusivity. It covers personal skill development, metadata, developing more diverse reading lists and more practical examples are provided.
Cibyl and Accenture, supported by Student Minds, are conducting the UK’s largest study into university student and graduate mental health.
Based on responses from 6,685 students and recent graduates across 140+ universities, the research explores how academic pressure, finances, social life and career uncertainty shape mental health outcomes.
This year’s findings highlight both scale and urgency. More than half of respondents (55%) said they have experienced mental health difficulties at some point in their lives, with 29% experiencing them at the time of the survey. Financial stress remains a dominant driver, with 64% worrying about money daily or weekly.
The final report Inclusive Remote and Hybrid Working Study finds that most of the disabled people who participated in the research reported a strong preference for continuing to work remotely or in a hybrid way, and positive impacts on their health, employment and personal circumstances.
amazing digital collection from Biblioteca Nacional de España, the national library of Spain which now gathers together on one site its digital collections . these include
printed books, manuscripts, drawings, maps, posters, photographs, scores and sound recordings. books mainly from 15th to 19th century
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