Unsettling Dominant Narratives in Knowledge Production Through Decolonial Resilience: The Zimbabwean Case

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Despite common knowledge that higher education in Zimbabwe has erased indigenous knowledge production and is grappling with the legacy of colonialism, like much of Africa, very few studies, if any, have reflected on and discussed how lecturers can dismantle the coloniality of knowledge production through decolonial resilience. This conceptual article uses the case of Zimbabwe and deploys the decolonial lens to interrogate how higher education lecturers can decolonise knowledge production and navigate the trajectory of injustices and systematic inequalities to validate African thought systems. Using documents and extant literature from the public domain, the article responds to two questions that underpin this study: how have colonial legacies shaped knowledge production in higher education in Zimbabwe, and how can lecturers unsettle the dominant narratives on the production of knowledge through decolonial resilience? Despite existing evidence, findings replicate that Western dominance has superseded indigenous knowledge production and cultural practices, and lecturers have not firmly renounced colonial adversity to validate the African knowledge production system. The study argues for decentring African perspectives and experiences in knowledge production to prioritise cultural relevance and epistemic justice. Given these findings, the study recommends employing decolonial resilience to transform higher education and promote knowledge recovery. By exploring how higher education lecturers, as agents, can turn a new leaf in knowledge production, the study contributes to a broader conversation on the decolonisation of knowledge production in higher education in Zimbabwe and beyond.