How Not to Decolonize Political Theory

Abstract

This article addresses a problematic interpretation of African and Indian decolonial political theory, arguing it understates the positive effects anticolonial ideas have had on society and scientific efforts to understand and produce knowledge about it. Another problem is its reliance on the concept of “Western” theory, which presumes genealogical purity. Our response offers creolization as an alternative model for decolonizing political theory and uses the term “Euromodern” instead. It then explores how creolization is at the heart of the ideas of intellectuals considered most paradigmatic of Western thought, and demonstrates the influence of Afro-Islamic thought on them. Subsequently, we rebut the authors’ claim that Fanon’s thought has failed to generate new methods for studying postcolonial reality and extend their analysis of Indian society beyond the frames forged by Gandhi and Spivak. Finally, we conclude by discussing Muhammad Iqbal, a uniquely creolizing and forward-looking decolonial figure from the Afro-Muslim world.