Quote: "Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas."
This approach provides an analytical perspective that helps understand the effects of economic and political colonization, as well as cultural imperialism on societies and nations.
Colonialism: The history and impact of colonialism on colonized societies, including the exploitation of resources and cultural erasure.
Eurocentrism: The perspective that centers European culture and values as the norm and standard, often at the expense of other cultures.
Intersectionality: The interconnectedness of social identity markers, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class, and how they shape experiences of oppression and privilege.
Indigenous sovereignty: The right of indigenous peoples to self-governance, including control over land and resources.
Postcolonialism: Examining the aftermath of colonialism, including the legacies of colonization and ongoing struggles for decolonization.
Critical Race Theory: Understanding how race and racism operate in society, including the ways in which race intersects with other identity markers and power dynamics.
Epistemicide: The suppression or erasure of non-Western knowledge and ways of knowing in favor of Western knowledge systems.
Settler colonialism: The process of colonizing land that is already inhabited by indigenous peoples and seeking to replace their culture and ways of life.
Third World feminism: The intersection of feminist thought with the experiences of women living in postcolonial societies, including the complex power dynamics at play.
Cultural appropriation: The adoption or use of elements of a culture by members of another culture without understanding or respecting their significance or context.
Indigenous Studies: This type of decolonial theory focuses on studying and understanding indigenous cultures, histories, and practices, often situated within broader indigenous rights movements.
Critical Race Theory: This type of decolonial theory explores the ways in which race has been used to shape power relations and social hierarchies, with a focus on anti-blackness in the United States.
Postcolonial Studies: This type of decolonial theory examines the cultural, political, and economic legacy of colonialism in former colonies, focusing on issues of identity, representation, and resistance.
Afro-pessimism: This type of decolonial theory argues that anti-blackness is a fundamental structure of modern society, and that even post-colonial and anti-racist movements reinforce anti-black racial hierarchies.
Borderlands Theory: This type of decolonial theory explores the multiple intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and nationality in border regions, where different cultures and histories have overlapped and interacted.
Queer Theory of Color: This type of decolonial theory focuses on the intersections of race, sexuality, and gender in non-white LGBTQ communities, which often experience social marginalization and violence on multiple levels.
Environmental Justice: This type of decolonial theory examines the ways in which environmental harms and risks disproportionately affect marginalized communities, especially those in global South regions.
Critical Whiteness Studies: This type of decolonial theory investigates the role of whiteness in the formation of modern racial hierarchies and power relations, with an emphasis on deconstructing white privilege and racial capitalism.
Quote: "The meanings and applications of the term are disputed."
Quote: "Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on independence movements in the colonies and the collapse of global colonial empires."
Quote: "Other scholars extend the meaning to include economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience."
Quote: "Decolonization scholars form the school of thought known as decoloniality."
Quote: "Decolonization scholars... apply decolonial frameworks to struggles against the coloniality of power and coloniality of knowledge within settler-colonial states even after successful independence movements."
Quote: "Indigenous and post-colonial scholars have critiqued Western worldviews."
Quote: "promoting decolonization of knowledge and the centering of traditional ecological knowledge."
Quote: "Such a broad approach that extends the meaning of decolonization beyond political independence has been disputed and received criticism."
Quote: "Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò argued that it is analytically unsound to extend the meaning of "coloniality" to this extent."
Quote: "[He] argued that approaches that see 'decolonization' as more than political emancipation deny the agency of people in former colonies who have consciously chosen to adopt and adapt elements from colonial rule."
Quote: "Others, such as Jonatan Kurzwelly and Malin Wilckens or Veeran Naicker, argued that such scholarly and practical attempts at 'decolonization' perpetuate reified and essentialist notions of identities."
Quote: "Some scholars extend the meaning to include economic, cultural and psychological aspects of the colonial experience."
Quote: "Decolonization scholars apply decolonial frameworks to struggles against the coloniality of power and coloniality of knowledge."
Quote: "Indigenous and post-colonial scholars have critiqued Western worldviews."
Quote: "promoting decolonization of knowledge and the centering of traditional ecological knowledge."
Quote: "Such a broad approach that extends the meaning of decolonization beyond political independence has been disputed and received criticism."
Quote: "approaches that see 'decolonization' as more than political emancipation deny the agency of people in former colonies who have consciously chosen to adopt and adapt elements from colonial rule."
Quote: "such scholarly and practical attempts at 'decolonization' perpetuate reified and essentialist notions of identities."
Quote: "Indigenous and post-colonial scholars have critiqued Western worldviews, promoting decolonization of knowledge."