Decolonial Lens Research Articles

“What Kind of Migrant Are You?”—Iranian Migrants in the West, Racial Complexity and Myths of Belonging

In this article, I analyse the complexity of the status of “migrant” in relation to myths of belonging and what we call “home”. I look at status labels that Iranian border-crossers embrace after migrating to the Global North and the ways in which they practice adaptability in accordance with the systemic and structural meanings associated with their migration status and their racial complexity. Ethnic and Racial labels adopted by Iranian migrants can include “Persian”, “Iranian”, “Middle Eastern”, “White”, or “Aryan”, and migration status labels range from “migrant” to “refugees and asylum seekers”, “exiles”, “expats” etc. Using a mixed approach of digital ethnographies, autoethnography and textual analysis, together with an intersectional and decolonial lens, I investigate the ways in which migration status such as skilled categories are associated with not only “fitting” into the neoliberal and capitalist systems of border crossing but also “blending” into racial hierarchies and maintaining class status post migration within White contexts. This article takes an empathetic approach to the lived experiences of minority and racially complex migrants and emphasises the epistemic value of their narratives and the ways in which these stories can inform us about the covert systemic structural and racially loaded bias that exists within migration economies of the Global North.

Re-imagining education in Haiti through a lens of de-coloniality

Purpose Scholars such as Hebblethwaite (2012) argue that societal elements like the pressure for students to learn French in Haiti are deeply rooted in colonial traditions which were originally intended to hinder long-term development and continue to do so within the country. The purpose of this paper is to widen the scope of Hebblethwaite’s discussion on language and question other social norms within educational institutions, which are having a negative impact on educational attainment. This purpose is accomplished by way of an empirical study of primary school education reform efforts in Haiti through a lens of de-coloniality as defined by Walter Mignolo (2005). Design/methodology/approach Given that this is an empirical study on education reform in Haiti, I have conducted this study solely through the analysis of literature and evidence from past work on education reform in Haiti and other countries with similar challenges. The body of the research is separated into two parts, and the first is a critical historical analysis of the context. The second is a comparative analysis of two different case studies on education reform projects that have occurred in Haiti. This will also be followed by a conclusive analysis of similar efforts in communities around the world. Findings This study demonstrates that primary school students, teachers and their communities in Haiti respond better to education development projects that place mother-tongue learning, grassroots community participation and culturally relevant pedagogy at the forefront of daily operational planning. These factors would play a key role in setting the foundation for students to be both productive Haitian citizens first and global citizens second. The literature reviewed also demonstrates that historically, education has focused far too heavily on models that work for or originate from the global north and not enough on building an education system tailored to Haiti. Research limitations/implications Since barriers such as societal norms need to be addressed through organic grassroots movements, which take time to be effective, reform from this perspective is better suited for the longer term than the shorter term. In the conclusion, this is considered to be a limitation when it comes to identifying short-term solutions to education, especially given that grassroots projects such as Buiga-Sunrise take time to establish winning practices that support self-sufficiency. Originality/value Literacy rates in Haiti for the year 2012 were around 48% for adults and 72% for youth (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012). Not to mention that only 50% of children attend primary schools and 20% attend secondary schools (UNICEF Haiti, 2011, as cited in Jean-Marie and Sider, 2014). Such low educational attainment shows a need for greater access to education, and as much as the privatisation of schools is a significant barrier, as argued by Sider and Jean Marie, there are other impactful factors that remain to be addressed.

On decolonising music diversity in/and higher education

ABSTRACT The practice of music diversity is colonialized. Its model is impotent to disrupt the Western canon. On the contrary, the practice has opened the door to sonic materialization and trafficking that has become indicative of the encounter between classical music and other music traditions in higher education. The Global South has become the mining area, while Western institutions “explore” indigenous music to repair the status quo. The thesis of this article is that the current Western curricular approach to music diversity is a reincarnation of the Western hegemony. I adapted a decolonial lens to examine the premises of diversity practice, questioning its model and unmasking its logic. I will interrogate the unbalanced relationship or what Quijano and Mignolo call the “matrix of power.” In doing so, I introduced a conceptual tool - canonity, which is defined and examined alongside the concept of diversity. I argue that diversity represents the other side of canonity, just as coloniality and modernity/rationality are two sides of the same coin. This coinage suggests that musical canonity/diversity is indicative and constitutive of coloniality/modernity. Thus, the article calls for the decanonisation of the epistemic center, delinking from the trajectory of modernity/rationality and shifting the geography of knowledge.

A decolonial approach to ecological distribution conflicts and the Maya Train in Mexico

A neoliberal development model, frequently at odds with the values of the local Mayan biocultural heritage, has historically prompted the conversion of forests and small-scale agricultural land, mainly in the Yucatan Peninsula. This study analyzes ethnographic data collected in two localities in the peninsula that will be impacted by the Maya Train. Preliminary results based mainly on conducted interviews revealed perceptions regarding daily interactions with the local habitat, the effects of public policy initiatives in the communities, and resistance strategies in response to perceived threats surrounding the project. Through a decolonial lens, the study contributes to understanding how social movements impact policies in the face of the environmental and social pacts of neoliberal development projects, while advancing towards a more ontologically diverse political representation.

Reclaiming Being: Applying a Decolonial Lens to Gendered Violence, Indigenous Motherhood, and Community Wellbeing

Indigenous women and children in Canada are significantly more likely to experience some form of family violence than their non-Indigenous counterparts. However, biomedical and academic discussions around the violence that Indigenous women and their families and communities face reflect a colonial narrative emphasizing Euro-Canadian perspectives and values; a colonial narrative that disconnects the role of past and ongoing forms of colonial violence and naturalizes family violence within Indigenous communities, informing a view of Indigeneity as risk. Through a decolonial lens, the underlying causes of family violence in Indigenous communities can be connected to the gendered violence of patriarchal colonialism targeting Indigenous women. It is revealed how Indigenous women’s bodies became a site of the coloniality of violence as colonization disenfranchised and displaced Indigenous women from their lands, communities, and central roles. Gendered colonial violence attacked Indigenous women’s scared status in their societies and disrupted Indigenous relational modes of being. This informed a coloniality of being for Indigenous peoples; a coloniality of being integral to intergenerational trauma and family violence. Through the lens of Indigenous laws as a decolonial approach to family violence, the centrality of Indigenous women’s roles and responsibilities as mothers is linked to community wellbeing and intertwined with leadership and governance. By grounding the rights of Indigenous women within relationships, Indigenous women can reclaim their sacred places within respectful, reciprocal, and interconnected ways of being.

The Politics of Memory: NLP Models as Liberating Artifacts

The main argument of this article is that natural language processing (NLP) projects of Indigenous African languages can be understood as an effort to restore and preserve Africa’s memory in the digital. Language has always occupied a particular place in the African decolonial imaginary. Several African states embarked on processes of Africanisation of postcolonial institutions in their respective national contexts. One of the main features of this project in many African countries was the restoration of African languages in education and public service. Taking a social constructivist approach rooted in science and technology studies and looking through the analytical lens of decoloniality in Africa, I conceptualise NLP models of Indigenous African languages as liberating artifacts. I mobilise decolonial theory to look at language as a technology that can be used to dis-member and re-member the African subjects of their memory of being as people. The coloniser erased the memory of the African subjugated by cutting off their linguistic connections and instead planted the European memory. From this perspective, decolonisation can be understood as a process of re-memberment that can be achieved through the return of the languages of those whose humanity has been denied or questioned. In this sense, NLP projects offer instances of the digital that represent spaces of restoration and negotiated digital futurities. I contend that these digital spaces in Africa are social spaces of contestation about what common investments should be made, what collective futures are desirable and what are the perceived material consequences of such shared imaginations.

Queer Narratives and Colonial Injustice: Tropical Landscape in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

This paper explores the intersection of colonialism, masculinity, and queerness in Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Through a decolonial lens, it examines how Díaz critiques the lingering effects of colonialism and dictatorship on Dominican identity, particularly through the ‘fukú’ curse—a symbol of intergenerational trauma. The paper argues that the queering of heterosexuality in the novel challenges rigid gender norms, where Oscar’s nonconformity and Yunior’s conflicted hypermasculinity expose the limitations of Dominican masculinity shaped by colonial rule. Set against the backdrop of the Dominican Republic’s tropical landscapes and violent history, Oscar’s and Yunior’s narratives highlight the broader struggle between individual authenticity and societal conformity. Díaz’s use of magical realism and transcultural storytelling amplifies this decolonial critique, revealing how colonial legacies continue to shape gender and identity in the post-colonial world. By analyzing the characters’ resistance to heteronormative pressures and their individual journeys, the paper situates The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as a significant exploration of queering as a form of decolonial resistance, reconsidering the lasting impact of colonial oppression on cultural and gender identities.

The Three Pillars of De-development: Forced Displacement, Cultural Annihilation, and Economic Expropriation

The central argument and the vantage point of this article is that there is an indivisible and organic link between the economic and noneconomic aspects of dispossession or disarticulation in the state policies in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia (ESA), without the analysis of which the political economy of de-development in ESA cannot be veraciously understood. Nor could the region be analyzed from a decolonial lens because overlooking or negating this link hinders the pivotal aims and achievements of the decolonization scholarship: (1) excavating the significant historical power inequalities and (2) unearthing and impugning the sanitization or negation of plunder and the civilizing mission. An indispensable element of de-development in ESA is the nationalist population policies, which, among other things, include forced displacement of the autochthonic populaces in ESA. This article analyzes the fluxes in the socioeconomic and political features and structures of ESA and describes the demographic engineering-centered de-development policies implemented in the ESA, which have been thus far either eluded or analyzed devoid of their ramifications for socioeconomic features and structures in ESA by scholarly studies. In doing so, the article will employ a political economy approach as well as a longue durée mode of analysis.

Let’s NOT Celebrate Cook: Robyn Kahukiwa’s Confrontational 2020 Exhibition

This article examines the provocative exhibition Let’s NOT Celebrate Cook, a selection of paintings by Māori artist Robyn Kahukiwa (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Konohi, Whānau-a-Ruataupare) at Mahara Gallery, Waikanae, near Wellington, in 2020.[i] Employing a decolonial lens, it explores the extent to which Kahukiwa’s artistic intervention disrupts the hegemony of Western historical discourse and reclaims an Indigenous narrative. It considers how, in foregrounding an Indigenous perspective, her artworks encourage candid discussion regarding the legacy and impacts of British colonisation in present-day Aotearoa New Zealand. [i] Following an eighteen-month closure for extensive redevelopment, Mahara Gallery reopened in October 2023 under the new name of Toi MAHARA.

Decolonizing Method of Hadith Matn Criticism on the Case of Aisha's Age at Marriage in Western Scholarship

This paper critically engages with the methodological frameworks utilized in Western scholarship concerning the age of Aisha at the time of her marriage to Prophet Muhammad. Within the context of contemporary Western modernism, which has introduced new ethical standards and norms previously absent but now regarded as authoritative, this study aims to scrutinize the impact of such norms on interpretations within Hadith scholarship. Through a decolonial lens applied to the criticism of Hadith matn, it seeks to unravel and challenge colonial biases and Eurocentric perspectives that have historically shaped scholarly discourse on this issue. Furthermore, this research highlights the contributions and perspectives of prominent figures in Western Hadith scholarship, including Jonathan AC Brown, to enrich the dialogue on the subject. By advocating for a decolonized approach to Hadith criticism, this study underscores the necessity of contextual understanding, cultural sensitivity, and epistemic inclusivity in the examination of Islamic history and tradition.

Making Space for Feminist Decolonial Geographies of Peace with the Shuar in the Ecuadorian Amazon: A Case for ‘Cuerpo Territorio’

ABSTRACT This article follows urgent calls from peace and conflict studies and geographies of peace to be decolonised. Our study shows that for the Shuar communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the concept of peace is quite different from that of the Ecuadorian state. This study demonstrates how ‘Western’ centric definitions of the term are rooted in colonial logic and power structures. In this article, we explore what it could mean to decolonise theories and spaces for peace. Through encounters with Indigenous Shuar understandings of peace in a community-based participatory research project, we highlight the plurality of possibilities for the term. Using a decolonial lens we conclude with a call to action for scholars in those disciplines to engage with the Feminist Indigenous Latin American and Caribbean methodology and epistemology ‘cuerpo territorio’ (body-territory) to understand territory from the perspective of Abya Yala, that sees women’s bodies as the ‘first territory’. We argue that ‘cuerpo territorio’ is well suited to do decolonial work and help us step outside a Westernized understanding of peace and make strides towards the pluriverse. While typically this Indigenous concept has been used to better understand violence surrounding extraction sites, we propose that engaging with the methodology will prove useful for theoretical findings in spatial understandings of peace and its praxis.

Framing the Yanomami: decolonial analysis of U.S coverage of Indigenous people in Brazil during COVID-19

ABSTRACT Mainstream news coverage in the U.S. of Indigenous people and the issues that threaten their survival has largely validated misconceptions rooted in colonial views and discourses dependent on harmful stereotypes. This study employs a qualitative thematic analysis of 32 articles from the New York Times and the Associated Press using a decolonial lens to investigate how U.S. news outlets framed the Yanomami people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings focus on four main frames that we identified among the news stories: (1) victimization and vulnerability, (2) illegal mining and policing, (3) environmental impact, and (4) Indigenous sovereignty. We discuss how these frames reinforce the colonial gaze, which continue to shape public knowledge, attitudes, and policymaking about Indigenous people globally, and how these findings contribute to theorizing about the role of media in Indigenous political representation.

Intercultural education in the Global South: decolonising canonical intercultural models in Moroccan University MA program courses

ABSTRACT Decolonial theorists continue to argue for a de-linking from the uncontested onto-epistemic constructs of intercultural education pedagogy (IEP) in TESOL. In the Global South, intercultural education may remain largely amenable to Euro-Western culturalist/differentialist frameworks that often breed essentialism and ethnocentrism. This paper envisages decolonial intercultural education as a de-linking approach for decentring the intercultural models prescribed in the canonical textbooks and materials. Therefore, it critically engages with intercultural language teaching from a decolonial lens so as to unravel and challenge the colonial undertones that are often rendered invisible within the assigned IC materials in Moroccan MA program courses.

Critiquing ‘powerful knowledge’ in school geography through a decolonial lens

ABSTRACT The concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ has risen to prominence in the school curriculum in England, taking on a life both in educational policy and in the work of schools, teachers, teacher educators and students. This article conducts a decolonial critique of ‘powerful knowledge’ in school geography. We begin by reviewing research about ‘powerful knowledge’ in geography education before turning to its interpretation in education policy and curriculum framings. We then offer our decolonial critique. We argue that the concept adopts reductive binary frames and neglects the racialising politics of geographical knowledge production. In doing so, ‘powerful knowledge’ marginalises the everyday knowledge of people globally and glosses over their ‘hidden’ geographies and histories in ways that sustain racialised global inequalities. We conclude by explaining the reasons for the emergence of ‘powerful knowledge’ and arguing for its demise on account of lack of analytical rigour and inattentiveness to social justice.

Otherwise the Same

AbstractThe growth of religious disaffiliation in the United States over the past three decades is historically unprecedented. This article argues that disaffiliation is a form of moral protest against lingering coloniality in American global North Christianities and appeals for missiologists to adopt a decolonial lens to more effectively critique harmful religious systems and investigate exterior forms of Christianities otherwise in the North American context. The article explores existing sociological and empirical data on disaffiliation, deconversion, and religious harms to expose the moral protest of disaffiliation. Decoloniality is distinguished from postcolonialism to reveal its relevance for the subject matter and identify its method. Using examples of North American missiologies, the article demonstrates how latent forms of coloniality are preserved despite decolonizing efforts in the field and how a decolonial lens can bring new works of the spirit into focus. Finally, it briefly explores implications for future research.

Future design narratives: an interdisciplinary approach to a decolonial glossary

AbstractAs design evolves, language serves as a bridge between envisioned futures and the ontological elements of design that shape them. This manuscript presents an alternative glossary that gathers words from diverse disciplines and practices intersected by a decolonial lens that challenges hegemonical narratives. The glossary of the world to come results from a three-day workshop that focused on language as a formal, normative, and subversive tool capable of defining future behaviour and destabilizing the present. The terms are some among the many that exist to form this decolonial world.

Standing against racial capitalism: Reconsidering psychology's role in dismantling systemic racism.

The American Psychological Association's resolutions on dismantling systemic racism represent a watershed moment in our discipline, yet confusion remains as to what it means to "dismantle" racism given psychology's emphasis on changing individual beliefs. This submission will review the tension between "idealist" interpretations of critical race theory emphasizing individual beliefs and "realist" perspectives contextualizing racism within political economic arrangements. Psychology's adoption of an "idealist" framework will be shown to privilege a neoliberal project emphasizing individual change and symbolic performances of racial justice instead of structural changes benefitting people of color's material existence. Drawing on a decolonial critique of racial capitalism, we propose an alternative framework to challenge our discipline to broaden its political imagination by supporting evidence-based policies to dismantle racism as a structural and political force. This includes universal policies to reduce racial and economic inequality and population-specific policies such as reparations for African Americans predicted to stimulate economic growth. Urgently, the decolonial lens challenges psychology to theorize racism not as a primarily individual phenomenon but a political force that divides and conquers while enriching white economic elites. To fulfill the promises of the American Psychological Association's resolutions, we must directly challenge the political economic interests that benefit from racism and contribute to the common good as a form of "loving care." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Decolonising student services: Implications for conflict management in higher education

This theoretical argument explores the decolonisation of student services in higher education and its implications for conflict management. The study is based on a comprehensive literature review that incorporates decolonial theories, frameworks, and existing discourse on student services. It establishes a theoretical framework that integrates key concepts from decolonial perspectives and conflict management. Using a theory synthesis design and conceptual analysis to advance the argument, the article explores the transformative process of decolonising student services and how it affects conflict management in diverse academic communities. By examining the intersection between decolonial approaches and conflict management, this study highlights how restructuring student services through a decolonial lens contributes to the creation of inclusive and equitable environments. Real-world case studies are also considered, providing an understanding of successful instances where decolonisation positively impacts conflict dynamics. Moreover, the article discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with implementing decolonised student services, offering practical recommendations for educators, administrators, and policymakers. This work contributes to the ongoing discourse on higher education by providing insights into the complex relationship between decolonisation, student services, and conflict resolution. It envisions a future where culturally responsive and decolonised student service practices foster collaboration and prioritise equity, inclusivity, and collaborative conflict management in diverse academic communities.

Epistemic Reciprocity Through a Decolonial Crip Literacy in Accommodated Language Education for Adults

Abstract This linguistic ethnography was conducted in accommodated language education in Sweden, aimed at adult learners with deafness, hearing impairment, post-traumatic stress disorder, migration stress, or intellectual disability, here, focusing on the latter group, who attended Swedish language learning courses. We empirically investigate a decolonial crip literacy, by connecting language education to epistemic reciprocity. The decolonial lens is understood with regard to the marginalized and dis-abled body, under-represented in Applied Linguistics. More specifically, we focus on teacher positionality and ethical stance-taking among three of the teachers, to contribute an in-depth and situated account of a decolonial crip literacy, as counteracts of ableism and linguicism, and an orientation toward epistemic justice. Based on our linguistic ethnographic data, we suggest that the decolonial crip literacy project engages with disability-as-difference, positioning the dis-abled body as knower, via epistemic reciprocity, which is communicated through a multiplicity of communicative resources, materialities, and creativity. The paper contributes both to the theorizing of injustice in language education and to alternatives in pedagogical practice.

The Tension within Norms: Agency and Risks in Pursuit of Global Climate Justice

Abstract How can IR theory capture both the possibilities of agency for historically underrepresented groups and the limitations that different social struggles present for them? This paper proposes a framework based on relational approaches, decolonial perspectives, and the concept of “tension” between possibilities and risks of agency to analyze the dynamics of norm emergence and circulation. It builds on, but moves beyond, constructivist analyses of the norm life cycle and adopts a relational and decolonial lens in order to probe normative agency and its consequences within the context of international negotiations. Focusing on constructivist theories of socialization with multiple feedback effects, the paper calls for a fourth agentic turn in the study of norms and their genealogy and offers an analytical and empirical roadmap to chart a more complex scenario of co-constitution for norms. The paper refers to the case of climate justice to illustrate, empirically, the importance of employing the concept of tension to unveil agentic moments in norm circulation, while also highlighting, theoretically, the risks and limitations that are present in meanings that continue to reinforce colonial legacies.