July 28, 2026

The incoherence of the term 'decolonial'

 Until someone can explain to me clearly why the Hindu right in India is *not* 'decolonial' or why "Wahhabism" is not 'decolonial' (did it not remake the world?!), without reference to a set of essentially western liberal or left values, I think we should probably place a moratorium on the term. Like many terms that trend in academic rhetoric, it has become to be super-freighted with the meaning and expectations of vastly different kinds of trajectories and projects. I think the way the term is used largely glosses over the reality that decolonial values are more often than not refigured western left-liberal ideals. Which is fine, as long as we remember that these values were often the outcome of prolonged political struggle within both western and non-western societies, rather than the necessary acceptance or rejection of a particular western epistemology.

Read more...

  © Blogger templates The Professional Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP