This public engagement seminar brings together university scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to create sociological fiction, narrating stories inspired by children and young people with whom they have worked in their research. Through these narratives, we will explore how children challenge, navigate, and transform the colonial structures that shape their daily experiences.

The seminar provides new perspectives on decolonisation by showcasing how children and young people, through their unique ways of thinking and acting, resist and reshape their environments. The speakers explore various decolonial approaches to researching with children, ranging from archiving young people’s data, to creative arts-based methodologies, drawing on their own research across diverse topics and geographies. The seminar aims to create a space where diverse voices and experiences can come together to deepen our understanding of decolonisation in religious, cultural and social contexts from a child-centred perspective.

By blending empirical research with narrative imagination, sociological fiction allows for a more nuanced understanding of social realities. It brings to light the often-overlooked experiences and agency of children and young people, making their struggles and resistance against colonial influences more accessible and relatable. This approach also encourages empathy and critical thinking, inviting audiences to consider complex social issues through fresh and compelling narratives.

This event is co-sponsored by the Susan Manning Workshop Fund from the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh. It is organised by Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü, IASH-Alwaleed Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and chaired by Prof Lynn Jamieson, Professor of Sociology, Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh, and Dr Shruti Chaudhry, Chancellor’s Fellow in Sociology at the University of Edinburgh.

The full programme and registration are on Eventbrite: