Francesca Recchia

Francesca Recchia is an independent researcher, educator and writer whose work is grounded in the values and principles of decolonial philosophy and radical pedagogy. She is interested in the geopolitical dimension of cultural processes in countries in conflict and she focuses on practices of collective resistance and civil disobedience is contexts of unequal structures of power. Her work combines an activist drive towards justice and equality with the rigour and exactness of academic research. 

Over the last two decades, Francesca has worked in different capacities in Palestine, Pakistan, India, Kashmir, Iraq and Afghanistan. Her latest assignment in Kabul was as Acting Director of the Afghan Institute for Arts and Architecture. There, she facilitated the restructuring of the institution – both financially and in terms of vision – through the training and consolidation of local leadership and the fostering of a culture of collaboration and equality. 

As an academic, Francesca’s commitment to decolonisation is reflected in the themes of her classes as well as in the pedagogical approach she proposes, both rooted in principles of equality and anti-racism. 

Francesca is a founding member of The Polis Project, a hybrid research and reportage humanities collective that works with communities in resistance in the Global South.