Dr. Sarah Jane Brubaker Virginia Commonwealth University SSSP President (2025-2026)

ANNOUNCING 76th Annual Meeting August 7-9, 2026 Westin New York at Times Square New York City, NY

Resisting Colonization of Lifeworlds

As we face multiple crises at global, national, and local levels, in higher education, social movements, and in the SSSP itself, we seek ways to conceptualize both causes and solutions. Colonization of lifeworlds is a powerful way of thinking about systems based on logics of profit, domination, and coercion. Such systems have taken over - and threaten to destroy - spaces where we give life and build and sustain community through solidarity, love and mutual care, and participatory engagement in civic life. These are spaces where we celebrate and respect all forms of life, where we share our creativity and joy, and where we create space for hope. Processes of colonization include corporatization, commodification, financialization, and bureaucratization. The logics of these forms of social relations have invaded our lifeworlds and undermined our humanity, our species-being, our interspecies relationships and commitment to caring for all forms of life. How can we work together to recreate and elevate the logic of lifeworlds in resistance to the forces of colonization?

Dr. Sarah Jane Brubaker, SSSP President
Virginia Commonwealth University