Working to End Racial Oppression Conference 2025

Conference Theme:

Racism is one of the most pressing challenges facing the world today. Rooted in deep historical legacies, it continues to shape contemporary issues in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and beyond. Racism manifests in various forms, contributing to systems and structures that perpetuate inequitable outcomes for Indigenous peoples and minoritised ethnic groups across nearly every indicator of wellbeing. To effectively challenge racial discrimination, it is essential to critically examine the extent of racism and the mechanisms through which it is sustained. Such an examination is crucial for developing transformative strategies to dismantle these systems. The pervasive effects of racism, reinforced by its entrenchment in many current political agendas, demand more than intellectual discourses. Addressing racism requires a commitment to solidarity, political action, and societal transformation.

In Aotearoa, the WERO: Working to End Racial Oppression research programme has been dedicated to this cause for the past five years. The programme focuses on identifying the extent and persistence of racism, scrutinising both institutional and interpersonal forms of racial oppression, and developing strategies to mitigate its effects on society. In 2025, WERO will host an international conference at the University of Waikato, gathering researchers, activists, and community members from Aotearoa and around the world to explore pathways to combat racial oppression.

This conference aims to advance decolonisation both politically and intellectually, challenge and dismantle the institutional foundations of racism, and expose the violent forms of racism that pervade societies globally. Achieving racial justice demands not only critical hope for alternative futures but also active solidarity and resistance. We invite submissions that demonstrate work towards ending racial oppression and look forward to shared connections and conversations.

Tickets for registration are available below. Early bird pricing is available until 15th December (NZST).

Conference Topics

The WERO: Working to End Racial Oppression team welcomes proposals for individual papers and special sessions addressing the themes below or others related to examining or challenging racism. Papers and sessions can take traditional academic forms, but creative and performative proposals are also strongly encouraged.

• Anti-racism and decolonisation in Aotearoa
• Toitū te Tiriti, settler colonialism and oppression
• Indigenous solidarities and internationalism
• Evidence to challenge racism in a post-truth world
• Solidarities against systemic racism
• White nationalism and the politics of backlash
• Confronting the colonial present
• Foreign policy, militarism and new nationalisms
• Abolition and anti-militarisation
• Racism, belonging and multiculturalism
• Gendered oppression and intersectional racism
• Governing for racial justice
• Critical hope and the politics of resistance
• Immigration, racialised burdens and systemic exploitation
• Systemic racism in employment, justice, health, housing, institutions, environments and communities

Conference Committee

• A/Prof Waikaremoana Waitoki
• Prof Francis Collins
• Dr Ritu Parna Roy
• Dr Kyle Tan
• Jan Rata

More information about the WERO research team and projects can be viewed from the project's website: https://wero.ac.nz/

Contacts

• Dr Ritu Roy: ritu.roy@waikato.ac.nz
• A/Prof Waikaremoana Waitoki: moana.waitoki@waikato.ac.nz