This abstract explores how decolonial methodologies in political theory, art, and activism reshape knowledge production in East European and Central Asian contexts. In line with the BASEES 2026 Annual Conference theme of “decentring and decolonising the study of the region,” it bridges academic research and creative practice to address questions of power, authorship, and epistemic repair. Marina Solntseva (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg) examines imperial aetiology and the formation of political subjectivities in authoritarian regimes, linking theoretical reflections on empire with her participation in the Berlin-based collective de_colonialanguage, and discusses collective and linguistic activism through initiatives such as the Open Air Museum of Decoloniality, which challenge colonial epistemologies embedded in language and public space. The paper proposes decolonial unlearning as a shared framework for transforming how East European and Central Asian knowledge is produced, circulated, and experienced across literary, artistic, and scholarly domains.
