Encruzilhadas are crossroads or intersections of encounter, contact, and interplay which challenge and question, make suffer, or empower and regenerate. Conceptually grounded in subaltern epistemologies, encruzilhadas refer to encountered uncertainties, crucial moments of decision taking, the mere possibility of change, or the troublesome place of multiple oppressions. It firmly grounds in Afro-Latin religions, intersectional Latin American feminist and queer debates, and unfolds analytical potential in ever more areas of study, including disability, education, and politics.

After a year of working together under conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, members of Mecila will meet at the Annual Meeting and Young Researchers Forum to discuss the generating and regenerating forces encountered in moments of suspension, struggle, and, eventually, uncertain re-openings. The encruzilhada in Cologne will highlight how Mecila members at all network locations have experienced countless forces that have traversed their lives, thoughts, and research activities, yet in locally specific and unequal ways. Post/global convivialities and long-standing inequalities are joined by new boundaries and frictions that cause doubt about which futures lie ahead of societies and communities in South and North.

Location: Fritz Thyssen Foundation (Cologne, Germany) and online.