BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute’s South Asia Center presents \;Shoza b Raza from the University of Toronto and Princeton University.Raza explor es a renewed vision of decolonization—one distinct from the efforts led by bureaucrats\, professors or social media activists. While much of contemp orary discourse has focused on dismantling colonial residues in cultural a nd epistemological landscapes—through actions such as toppling statues and revising disciplinary canons—his work presents an alternative approach\, one driven by subaltern actors engaged in struggles that were both global and local in scope.Raza examines how landless peasants in Pakistan\, deepl y embedded in a worldwide communist movement that spanned from Oakland to Saigon\, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean\, redefined revolutionary t heory in their fight against imperialist political economies. In the 1970s \, these peasants joined a Mao-inspired party\, not only seizing coloniall y-established estates but also coming to recognize that “theory” was an es sential\, internally understood tool for global revolution.He conceptualiz es these subaltern engagements with theory as trench theory\, a form of su bterranean theorizing shaped by the demands of political struggle. Using t he metaphor of the trench\, he highlights how these marginalized actors de veloped intellectual frameworks from within the very trenches of resistanc e. Ultimately\, his work demonstrates how subaltern actors drew upon ideas from diverse intellectual traditions\, crossing borders and oceans\, to c reate trench concepts—theoretical tools aimed at achieving not just worldl y\, but even other-worldly\, liberation.This talk is cosponsored by the&nb sp\;Anthropology Department and the School of Education.Shozab Raza is an assistant professor of social justice education and anthropology at the Un iversity of Toronto\, and a 2024-25 Fung Global Fellow at Princeton Univer sity. As a historical anthropologist\, his research and teaching focuses o n revolutionary political imaginaries and political economy as these unfol d across Asia\, the Indian Ocean and beyond. He is finalizing his book man uscript\, titled \;“Theory from the Trenches: Decolonization and the S torm of Subaltern Marxism.” Shozab’s research has been published in severa l journals\, including Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Studies in So ciety and History\, while his public writing has appeared in venues like T he Guardian and Boston Review. He is also a founding editor of Jamhoor. DTEND:20250325T180000Z DTSTAMP:20260512T161052Z DTSTART:20250325T163000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Theory from the Trenches: Decolonization and the Storm of Subaltern Marxism UID:RFCALITEM639141846522282189 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Moynihan Institute’s South Asia Center presents \;Shozab Raza from the University of Toronto and Princeton Un iversity.

Raza explores a renewed vision of decolonization—one dis tinct from the efforts led by bureaucrats\, professors or social media act ivists. While much of contemporary discourse has focused on dismantling co lonial residues in cultural and epistemological landscapes—through actions such as toppling statues and revising disciplinary canons—his work presen ts an alternative approach\, one driven by subaltern actors engaged in str uggles that were both global and local in scope.

Raza examines how landless peasants in Pakistan\, deeply embedded in a wor ldwide communist movement that spanned from Oakland to Saigon\, from the A tlantic to the Indian Ocean\, redefined revolutionary theory in their figh t against imperialist political economies. In the 1970s\, these peasants j oined a Mao-inspired party\, not only seizing colonially-established estat es but also coming to recognize that “theory” was an essential\, internall y understood tool for global revolution.

He co nceptualizes these subaltern engagements with theory as trench theory\, a form of subterranean theorizing shaped by the demands of political struggl e. Using the metaphor of the trench\, he highlights how these marginalized actors developed intellectual frameworks from within the very trenches of resistance. Ultimately\, his work demonstrates how subaltern actors drew upon ideas from diverse intellectual traditions\, crossing borders and oce ans\, to create trench concepts—theoretical tools aimed at achieving not j ust worldly\, but even other-worldly\, liberation.

This talk is cos ponsored by the \;An thropology Department and the School of Education.

Shozab Raza is an assistant professor of social ju stice education and anthropology at the University of Toronto\, and a 2024 -25 Fung Global Fellow at Princeton University. As a historical anthropolo gist\, his research and teaching focuses on revolutionary political imagin aries and political economy as these unfold across Asia\, the Indian Ocean and beyond. He is finalizing his book manuscript\, titled \; “Theory from the Trenches: Decolonization and the Storm of Subaltern Marxi sm.” Shozab’s research has been published in several journals\, i ncluding Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Studies in Society and Hist ory\, while his public writing has appeared in venues like The Guardian an d Boston Review. He is also a founding editor of Jamhoor.

END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR