What does Decolonization mean? What does it look like? How does it happen? Today there are as many definitions of Decolonization as there are persons who attempt to define the concept. Whatever definition one chooses, Decolonization for me is an act of resistance against western epistemological destruction, domination and hegemony.
Decolonization is not a metaphor. I have a personal relationship with this conceptual framework. I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former Belgian colony. Belgians were known for their ruthless cruelty towards the Congolese. My father was among the few Congolese who received a western education before the country became independent. I was expected to follow in his footsteps. My education was predicated on the notion that I would assimilate to the Belgian culture and be rewarded with the adjective "evolue." The word evolue literally meant an "evolved" or "developed person" and was used during the colonial era to refer to native African who had "progressed" by becoming Europeanized through education and assimilation and had accepted European values and patterns of behaviour as not only good and better but also superior.
I do not have the privilege to ignore this historical background. Colonialism conjures up in me images of physical and psychological brutality imposed on my people. It became obvious to me that the education that I received was rather a miseducation and the imposition of epistemic tyranny and violence rooted in white supremacy, white privilege, colonialism, and slavery. And yet, I was told it was "the" knowledge. My indigenous knowledge was worthless, irrelevant. This was my educational experience in the hands of the servants of King Leopold II.
The curriculum is what we teach. It is the content often saturated with canonical texts. Seldom do we question the sanctity of the canon. Who created the canon? What is western and non-western in it? Who is behind it? We often avoid questioning the production of knowledge, and we end up adopting the canon and becoming tacit accomplices. The canon is Eurocentric and attributes truth only to Western knowledge production methods, disregarding other epistemic traditions. The same venerated canon portrays colonialism as a normal form of social relations between human beings rather than a system of exploitation and oppression (Mbembe, 2016). The canon stands in deep contrast with the epistemicide festival that accompanied the project of colonization: the erasure, displacement, and obliteration of indigenous people's knowledge. Therefore, confronting the legacy of colonialism creates a deep fear in those who have benefited from it and seek to maintain it in various subtle ways.
Fanon (1963) writes, "Decolonization, which sets out to change the order of the world, is, obviously, a program of complete disorder. But it cannot come as a result of magical practices, nor of a natural shock, nor of a friendly understanding. Decolonization, as we know, is a historical process: that is to say it cannot be understood, it cannot become intelligible nor clear to itself, except in the exact measure that we can discern the movements which give its historical form and content." (p. 36). Fanon puts us on a long journey that he refers to as a historical process. But where do we start?
Decolonizing the university is a sexy idea but often is no more than a cliche. Why should we start with institutions that were designed to propagate the western canon, maintain western hegemony and in which all of us have been trained? Can we be emancipated from the colonization we have experienced within these institutions? Aren't we servants to the power in these institutions that employ us and pay our salaries? Do we expect these institutions to lay low and let us do what we want? How committed are we to this project of Decolonization? There is homework that needs to be done. We are not there yet.
I suggest that we begin with the Decolonization of ourselves. To the proponents of Decolonization, let's start with the process of decolonizing our own minds. This requires us to challenge, interrogate and purge ourselves of the servitude knowledge that we have acquired in western or westernized institutions and seek deep down and acknowledge our complicity with what gives us status. Far from overthrowing the canon, my intent is to subvert and disrupt the relations of power which invest in modern education, contesting them, problematizing inequalities, experimenting with alternative forms, and promoting new forms of subjectivity (Wamba & Chetty, 2020).
I would encourage the proponents of the canon to question the content and the centrality of the doctrine and, more importantly, the sanctity of scientific objectivity, the signature of scientific knowledge. And yet, we still have to find an objective definition of the concept of objectivity. I have attended multiple classes where the teachers' subjectivity was clouded by an objectivity stance, where a racialized neoliberal hegemonic discourse would take place under the guise of scientific objectivity. Is there a post-objectivity? It always sounds to me like objectivity is a period and subjectivity, a question mark.
I would be remiss not to acknowledge the narrative that suggests that Decolonization is the agenda of Southern scholars who seek representation in the canon. Some proponents have suggested that postcolonial scholars work within the institutions to promote change. With the advent of the civil rights movement in the United States, a number of universities and colleges decided to create new departments such as Africana Studies, Ethnic Studies, Native American Studies, Women Studies, LGBTQ and Queer Studies. These programs exist in many colleges and universities, and they tend to be the least resourced departments and programs. They have coexisted with all the traditional programs and have been silenced. Policymakers in the US invite the public to celebrations such as Black history month (February); Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, to name a few. Other scholars in desperation have chosen to simply leave traditional educational institutions to create alternative institutions.
For those of us engaged in the resistance against white supremacy and the colonization of the mind, the radical inclusion of marginalized voices is perhaps one way to think about Decolonization. However, the danger of inclusion is co-optation. Inclusion does not decolonize.
In many instances, it is a subtle way for white supremacists to absolve themselves of the sin of omission and white guilt. I have seen integrated college departments where racism is the currency. I have witnessed teachers who have integrated content to be politically correct, and the story goes on.
Decolonizing? Yes. But let's not put the cart before the horse. There are significant questions that need to be examined before we engage in the pursuit of curriculum decolonization. Here are a few. What was lost in the process of colonization? How did colonization affect indigenous ways of knowing? How can we retrieve erased or destructed knowledge? How do we reframe the canon to undo western epistemological domination? How will formerly excluded epistemologies enrich and expand learning? How often did I stand in my class saying to myself, "How do I provide an authentic African experience to my mostly white students? How long would I be a servant of the canon pretending to be a postcolonial scholar in name only?" It is important that we seek an adequate epistemology for knowledge diversity and avoid creating new colonialism versions. It is a process. It is a journey of a thousand miles. Let's start with these questions.
References
Fanon, F. (1963). The wretched of the earth. Translated by Farrington, C. New York: Grove Press.
Mbembe, A.J. (2016). Decolonizing the university: New directions. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 15 (1) 29-45.
Wamba, N. & Chetty, R. (2020). African westernized universities: Hosts of epistemological exploitation and colonization. (unpublished paper)
Nathalis Wamba is a Professor in Education Leadership at Queens College, City University of New York.