Module manager: Dr Megan Robertson
Email: m.a.robertson@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as an Elective
This module examines how decolonial thought disrupts dominant epistemologies, particularly in feminist and queer studies. The module can be divided into two sections, the first explores foundational debates on gender, sexuality, and race, tracing how colonialism restructured these categories and how they continue to shift. The second section examines contemporary feminist and queer politics, foregrounding the ways in which gendered and racialised power structures are resisted and reimagined. Centring everyday narratives, lived experiences, and grassroots movements, the module explores the intersections of theory, activism, and the construction of utopian horizons. Decolonial and Black feminist thought has addressed gaps in earlier postcolonial frameworks—such as those of Fanon and Said—that largely overlooked gendered dimensions of colonialism and racism. This module extends these discussions, taking an expanded approach to race that considers multiple global contexts. While Black feminism and decoloniality provide the module’s overarching theoretical grounding, we will also examine how gender and race are constructed in African, East Asian, and South American contexts. This module introduces students to historically marginalised feminist traditions—including Black, queer, and African feminisms—and demonstrates how colonialism continues to structure contemporary understandings of gender, sexuality, and race. Following José Esteban Muñoz’s (2009) conceptualisation of utopia as both critique and material possibility, we engage feminist and queer decolonial theories not as reactive frameworks but as blueprints for alternative futures. A key component of this module is introducing students to existing feminist and queer groups who engage in activism, advocacy and community building. In its first year, we plan to collaborate with student organisations such as the Black Feminist Society and the Black Women Project. The module will create opportunities for meaningful dialogue between these student societies and participants in the course. Through this engagement, students will explore the dynamics of Black feminist organising, examine how decolonial, African, Black, and indigenous feminist principles shape these groups' activities, reflect on the meaning of activism, and consider their experiences engaging with group members. Key themes covered in this module include (but are not limited to): Coloniality of gender, race and masculinities, intersectionality and race beyond Black/White binaries (Considering how race and gender operate in contexts beyond the dominant Global North discourses, including East Asian, South Asian, and Middle Eastern perspectives), Racial Capitalism and Gendered Labor – Examining how colonial economies shaped gendered and racialised labour systems (e.g., domestic work, sex work, care economies), Religion, Gender, and Race – Investigating how religious traditions and institutions have reinforced or resisted colonial gender ideologies, Queer and Trans Decolonial Politics – Engaging queer and trans critiques of colonial gender systems and their role in indigenous and Black liberation movements, The Politics of Desire and Erotics – Examining how race, colonialism, and gender shape sexual norms, desire, and agency (drawing from Audre Lorde, Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley, zethu Matebeni and others), Afrofuturism, Indigenous Futurisms, and Utopian Feminisms – Examining how marginalised communities use speculative fiction, art, and political activism to imagine liberated futures, Decolonial Pedagogies and Knowledge Production – Reflecting on how academia itself is shaped by colonial structures and how alternative epistemologies (e.g., storytelling, performance, oral histories) can challenge these.
The module aims to:
1. Explore the intersections of gender, race, and colonialism, examining how colonial histories have shaped contemporary understandings of gender, sexuality, and racial identities.
2. Introduce students to key feminist and decolonial theories, including Black, queer, African, and indigenous feminisms, and how these theories critique colonial systems of power and imagine alternative futures.
3. Analyse how gender and race are constructed and resisted in various global contexts, with specific attention to African, East Asian, and South American experiences.
4. Position feminist and queer decolonial theories as tools for praxis, engaging with lived experiences, grassroots movements, and utopian imaginings that challenge dominant power structures and contribute to building alternative futures.
5. Foster critical thinking about decolonial pedagogies and alternative knowledge production, encouraging students to reflect on how academic structures are shaped by colonialism and how alternative epistemologies (e.g., storytelling, performance, oral histories) can offer decolonial ways of knowing and being.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
SLO1: Apply critical analysis and theory to real-world case studies, integrating academic research with insights from community experiences and social movements.
SLO2: Present analysis effectively in both written and oral formats, communicating complex ideas clearly to academic and non-academic audiences, including community activists.
SLO3: Employ social research practices that allow for critical reflection and thinking about approaches to collaboration, activism and community engagement.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
LO1: To critically analyse the intersections of gender, race, and colonialism, and how colonial histories shape contemporary identities, power structures, and social movements.
LO2: To engage with and apply feminist and decolonial theories, including Black, queer, and indigenous feminisms.
LO3: To investigate the construction and resistance of gender, race, and sexuality across various global contexts, with a focus on African, East Asian, and South American perspectives, integrating theoretical knowledge with practical case studies.
LO4: To engage with local Black feminist organisations, engaging in community-based activism and reflection on the relationship between theory and praxis.
LO5: To critically evaluate decolonial pedagogies and alternative forms of knowledge production (e.g., storytelling, oral histories) as tools for challenging colonial epistemologies and fostering decolonial praxis in both academic and non-academic contexts.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| Private study hours | 278 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 22 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300 | ||
A formal formative assessment opportunity will be provided for each summative assessment task, which is specifically pedagogically aligned to that task. The formative assessment will follow on from an engagement with black feminist student organisations. As part of this, each student will receive feedback designed to support the development of knowledge and skills that will be later assessed in the summative task
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Coursework | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 30/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team