British Science Festival: Presidential Address in Geography
Our urban lives and experiences are more increasingly mediated by our access to digital technologies and exchanges across digital platforms. As our experiences of power, privilege and marginality are also replicated across digital and urban spaces, how can we create more equitable and fairer access to both digital and urban futures for all? How do we speak truth to power that is entrenched in historical, geo-political, social, economic, infrastructural and institutional privileges?
In this Presidential address Ayona Datta will explore what it means to take a decolonial approach in speaking back to the networks of power and privilege in cities in a digital age. She will focus on how the legacy of colonialism and postcolonialism continue to shape uneven access to digital and urban futures across gender, generation and social class. Using examples from her own work embedded in participatory and collaborative approaches she will present a pathway to decolonising this legacy from below.