The word ‘decolonisation’ is defined as “the process which signifies the end of rule by a foreign power and the recuperation and/or formation of an ‘independent’ entity, usually a nation-state, through a process often referred to as a ‘transfer of power’” (Gopal, 2021). Decolonisation is thus often associated with land, governance and justice and the end of colonialism, and in its literal sense, is about the repatriation of land from colonisers to Indigenous/local peoples. It is still called for by Indigenous peoples living in settler colonial countries such as the USA, Canada, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand.
“Decolonization is not a swappable term for other things we want to do to improve our societies and schools. Decolonization doesn’t have a synonym” (Tuck and Yang, 2012).
In Decolonization is Not a Metaphor, a widely read and referenced paper on decolonisation, Tuck and Yang (2012), argue that the broader decolonising movement is incommensurable (cannot be compared/equivalent) with what decolonisation is. These movements to decolonise research, methods, or the curriculum, etc., may focus on de-centering dominant/settler perspectives. However, they opine that as long as settler colonialism is built on settler-native-slave structure, if decolonising movements do not address the repatriation of land, they merely ease the guilt of (white) settlers.
However, their work is situated in North America, with its specific history of settler colonisation, and should be understood within that context. As Max Liboiron explains in Pollution is Colonialism, there are many instances where a strict definition of decolonisation might not be appropriate. The diversity of Indigenous/colonised peoples and the different paths they have taken/are taking to decolonise results in a diversity of understandings of what decolonisation means for them. In Latin America, for example, decolonisation has traditionally been associated with opposing coloniality and western epistemologies.
We take a broader view of what decolonisation encompasses to include undoing the world that colonialism built (Adebisi, 2019) and contextualising the violent histories of colonialism (Prescod-Weinstein, 2017). Decolonisation is therefore a political phenomenon which includes addressing and undoing the political, economic, cultural and psychological elements of the colonial experience (David Gardinier, 1967, from Betts, 2012).
Decoloniality involves not only the active undoing/delinking of dominant, Euro-American centric ways of thinking and understanding the world, but also the re-linking and re-existing outside of these norms (Mignolo, 2017). Importantly, decolonisation as such is context-specific and has to be conceptualised, interpreted, and acted on by individuals/communities in their local places and histories. (See this article on Decolonising Science for a more accessible read on this concept).
We thus concur with Lokot (2021)’s feminist approach to challenging coloniality, which focuses on power hierarchies (unequal power dynamics) that shape our lives. We interpret decolonisation as actively working to challenge and unravel this power inequality and other injustices that stem from it, to ensure everyone has equal access opportunity, rights, and status. It entails thinking and reflecting on our own power.
The current momentum for decolonising the curriculum/education system originated from the Rhodes must fall campaign in South Africa, which called for the removal of the status of Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town, a British imperialist. However, it broadened in scope to include the challenging of institutional racism and unequal access to higher education.
It also inspired other campaigns around the world, such as Why is My Curriculum White? in the UK, which questioned the Eurocentric focus and lack of diversity on reading lists and the associated racist implications (Peters, 2015). The ongoing NUS Decolonise Education campaign goes beyond racism to call out profit-making education systems and partnerships with the private sector that contribute to accelerating environmental/climate change and other socio-environmental issues.
Many UK universities, including the University of Sheffield (see their Race Equality Strategy and Action Plan), are actively looking to address structural racism, the lack of diversity on reading lists, and representation of minorities within their institutions. However, while commendable and necessary, decolonising is not just about addressing racism or increasing diversity (Adebisi, 2019; Gopal, 2021).
We see decolonising the curriculum as confronting/challenging colonial practices influencing education, by actively centring the concerns and world views of non-Western individuals, and respectfully knowing and understanding theory and research from ‘Other-ed’ perspectives (Thambinathan and Kinsella, 2021).
Decolonising research requires understanding of specific contexts, their colonial histories/legacies, and present colonial ideologies that may persist through personal or institutional practices – whether for the academic discipline or the geographic location in question.
These may take the form of identifying racial, gender, or nationality power differences, where control is exacted over others, acknowledging the role of colonialism in, for example, the building of natural history collections and scientific nomenclature, or the erasure of minority scholars. By first identifying the impacts of colonialism (on the research community or topic in question), we can then devise strategies to minimise these impacts (Lokot, 2021).
It also entails considering different ontologies (ways of perceiving reality/understanding the world) and epistemologies (ways of knowing/knowledge systems), and the co-design and co-production of research with research participants in question. See Tuhiwai Smith (2021) for a comprehensive account of how research has been imperial and colonial, and how Indigenous scholars envision the research process.