Women, Algeria, Torture, Foucault: Advancing the Anticolonial Sociology of Marnia Lazier
Introduction
Marnia Lazreg was a pathbreaking sociologist who made important contributions to a wide variety of fields, including the study of women, torture, colonialism, Islam, Foucault, international development, and her native Algeria. Much of this work was informed by an abiding belief in the emancipatory potential of a universalistic conception of the human—an approach that bucked prevailing academic trends and inspired a highly original oeuvre rich in critical perspectives. We convene in honor of this unique liberatory voice, who was taken from us in 2024.
The two-day conference will bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines and locales to build upon ideas that Marnia expounded in five of her books.
Day One
Thursday, September 25, 2025
CUNY Graduate Center, Skylight Room
365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016
- 2pm - Check-in desk for speakers and in-person attendees opens (all conference participants must register in advance online here)
- 2:30-3:30pm - Opening Remarks
- Ramsi Woodcock, University of Kentucky
- Erica Chito-Childs, Hunter College, CUNY (Interim Dean, Arts & Sciences) and others
- 3:30-4pm - Coffee Break
- 4-5:30pm - The Eloquence of Silence: Algerian Women in Question (1994)
Panel 1: Feminism and Difference
On the Eloquence “?” of Silence of Algerian Women in Kamel Daoud’s Houris
Emna Sfaihi, University of Debrecen, Hungary
The Importance of Studying Colonialism and its Heritage
Tuomo Melasuo, University of Tampere, Finland
Additional papers for this panel to be announced.
- 6pm - Reception
Day Two
Friday, September 26, 2025
Roosevelt House
47-49 E 65th St, New York, NY 10065
- 9am-10:30am - Foucault’s Orient: The Conundrum of Cultural Difference, From Tunisia to Japan (2017)
Panel 2: Foucault and Non-Western Thought I
Torture & Colonialism / Foucault and Non-Western Thought
Decolonial Dialogue: Foucault, Lazreg, Khatibi, Djait
Jakob Krais, University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany
Foucault and Non-Western Thought
Requestioning the Veil: Outlining the Anti-Colonial Philosophy of Marnia Lazreg through the Edinburgh School’s Afro-Decolonial Thought
Takeshi Morisato, University of Edinburgh, UK
Foucault and Non-Western Thought
Islamic or Political Spirituality?
Sajjad Lohi, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Torture & Colonialism I
Torture and Counter-Revolution in Algeria during French Colonization: 1954-1962
Youcef Hamitouche, University of Algiers 3, Algeria
Torture & Colonialism I
French Colonial Narratives on Torture and Counter-Narratives Developed by Marnia Lazreg
Mahendra Rana, Nehru University, India
- 10:30-11am - Coffee Break
- 11-12:30pm - Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad (2008)
Panel 3: Torture & Colonialism II
Marnia Lazreg and the Twilight of Modern Warfare
Bernard Harcourt, Columbia University, USA
Torture and the Twilight of Humanitarianism: From Algiers to Guantanamo
Lisa Hajjar, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Conceptual Wars over ‘Trauma’ and the Politics of Meaning
Suad Joseph, University of California, Davis, USA
Human Rights in the Risk Society: An Analysis of the New Forms of Torture under Neoliberalism
Erica Greco, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
- 12:30-1:30pm - Lunch Break
- 1:30-3pm - Questioning the Veil: Open Letters to Muslim Women (2011)
Panel 4: The Veil in Question
Empire, Native Collaborators, and the Veil: How Social Media Enables Astroturf Movements
Deepa Kumar & Bahareh Badiei, Rutgers University, USA
The Dual Veil: Decolonial Feminist Reflections on Islamisation and Americanisation of Algerian Women
Khaoula Belghit, University of Brighton, UK
The Hijab Is a Multidimensional Social Practice: The Ethical Dimension
Tasneem Alsayyed Ahmad, University Canada West, Canada
“Who the Fuck Are You?”: Violated Bodies, Viral Images, & Visual Ethics in the ‘Shameless’ Body Politics of Ahou Daryaei & Gisele Pelicot
Karina Eileraas Karakus, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
- 3-3:30pm - Coffee Break
- 3:30-5pm - Islamic Feminism and the Discourse of Post-Liberation: The Cultural Turn in Algeria (2021)
Panel 5: Assessing Islamic Feminism from an Anticolonial Perspective
Marnia Lazreg: Rethinking Differences in Order to Have a Voice — A Critique of Islamic Feminism and Perspectives for Reflection and Action on Feminism in Algeria
Nouria Benghabirit-Remaoun & Belkacem Benzenine, CRASC, Algeria
Beyond the “Religion Paradigm” and the Cultural Turn: Islam, Colonialism, and Women’s Care Work Between Subversion and Consolidation
Kirsten Wesselhoeft & Aliza M. Sadiq, Vassar College, USA
The Cultural Turn in Afghan Women’s Resistance Against Taliban Restrictions
Neela Hassan, University of Waterloo, Canada
Between Belief and Emancipation: The Enigma of Resistance to Islamic Feminism among Kerala’s Muslim Community
Perumthodi Shabna, Indian Institute of Management, India
- 7pm - Conference Dinner (off site)
