There have been four Anarchist Studies Network conferences, one every two years since 2010. The theme for this year's fifth conference, 'decolonise', was chosen for two reasons: to confront and tackle the rightward drift of mainstream politics and the rise of 'barefaced nationalism, racism and misogyny', and to address dominating practices in anarchist organising.
I was not involved in the initial discussions of the theme at the 2016 post-conference plenary or in the writing of the…