Decolonizing Knowledge: Looking Back, Moving Forward

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Interdisciplinary scholars rethink strategies for moving contemporary decolonization politics forward by revisiting the writings of the mid-20th century anti-colonial movements leading intellectuals. Decolonizing Knowledge draws on intellectual histories of anti-colonial thinkers who developed their ideas of decolonization through practical engagement with struggles for freedom from colonialism. Reading works by J.P.S. Uberoi, Frantz Fanon, Aim Csaire, C.L.R. James and Andaiye, among others, interdisciplinary activist scholars reflect on the meaning of decolonization that emerged from anti-colonial struggles of the past and its relevance today. Each chapter in the volume reflects on one or more texts from anti-colonial thinkers of the past to draw out the meaning of decolonization as conceptualized by earlier generations, providing key insights from their thinking and examining their relevance for contemporary struggles for racial, gender and class justice. With authors writing from multiple disciplines, these essays straddle a range of themes from theory and practice, art and literature, gender and violence, and political economy, to address a subject that is preoccupying academia and activists in the 21st century. Decolonizing Knowledge is an intervention into contemporary debates on decolonizing curricula and universities, arguing that these calls need to be firmly engaged in wider social practices for justice, and that they can learn much from those who wrote on the topic amid the 20th centurys many struggles for freedom.

Author Bio

Radha DSouza is Professor of Law, Development and Conflict Studies at the University of Westminster, UK. She is a lawyer, social justice activist, writer and commentator. Together with Dutch artist Jonas Staal she is co-founder of the art project Court for Intergenerational Climate Crimes. Sunera Thobani is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Her publications include Exalted Subjects (2007); Contesting Islam, Constructing Race and Sexuality (Bloomsbury Academic, 2020); and Coloniality and Racial (In)Justice in the University (2022). She is founding member of Researchers and Academics of Colour for Equity (RACE, 2001).