Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away on Sept. 8, 2022, was buried yesterday in Windsor after 70 years on the throne. During her reign, the sun did eventually set on the British empire, leaving newly minted states in its shadows that continue to grapple with their troubled history.
At Inkstick, we’re interested in shifting the center of this narrative, so we are taking the occasion to explore contemporary coloniality, the living remnants of imperialism, and how ghosts of empire continue to haunt us today. We invite you to propose narratives that explore our complex webs of entanglement and the living legacies of this structural violence that shaped the world(s) we live in today. We invite meditations, reportage, essays, and non-linear or formally de-colonized submissions.
- How does colonialism linger in your community?
- What structural/state relations and/or less visible networks continue to skew power toward former colonial power-holders? For example, let’s look at the Economic Community of West African States’ reserves held in French banks, current military bases in the Sahel, debates on the relevance of the commonwealth, recent calls for splitting with the monarchy in the Caribbean, dispatches from contemporary French colonies, proxy wars, etc.
- How is colonialism irrelevant to your life? Does “post-colonialism” exhaust you? How do we debate “authenticity” and “identity” in a world wrought with such fusion? Do identity politics heal or hurt (or both)?
- How do you experience the ghosts of empire in seemingly unrelated fields? Architecture and the shapes of urban centers? Fashion? Music?
- What are alternative modes of organizing power? Think Zapatistas, the Rights of Nature Movement, debates around Indigeneity, and types of sovereignty.
- What haven’t we considered that “Colonial Remnants” inspires in you? Surprise us!
Please send related submissions to skhan@inkstickmedia.com by 5 PM EST on Oct. 7, 2022, with the subject “Submission: Colonial Remnants.” Submissions should be between 900–2000 words but pitches between 200–300 words are also welcome. We encourage all to submit, especially freelance journalists, people of color, and self-identified women and gender nonconforming writers. Further guidelines are here.
