This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, in which the leaders of newly decolonised nations came together to build a post-colonial future.  Yet the Bandung era was more than a single diplomatic conference – it stretched from the late 1940s to the 1960s, involving peace activists, intellectuals, writers, artists, performers, women, and trade unionists who met at gatherings from Cairo to Tashkent, Delhi to Rangoon, Beijing to Havana.  What new perspectives do we get when we consider the Bandung era from these multiple perspectives?  How did they navigate the era of Cold War conflict and competition?   How did new ideas of solidarity both support and contest new projects of nation-building?  This talk explores the state of transnational activism in the era of Bandung and suggests possible legacies, while inviting respondents to discuss the nature of transnational activism in the ensuing decades.

Speaker:

Professor Su Lin Lewis, Department of History, Bristol University (UK)

Discussants:  

i) Juliet Chin, Pusat Sejarah Rakyat (MY)

ii) Patporn ‘Aor’ Phoothong, October 6 Museum Project (TH)

iii) Ita Fatia Nadia, Ruang Arsip dan Sejarah Perempuan Indonesia (ID)