Decolonizing History: Enquiry and Practice

Abstract

On the back of the Royal Historical Society’s 2018 report on race and ethnicity, as well as ongoing discussions about ‘decolonizing the syllabus’, this is a conversation piece titled, ‘Decolonizing History: Enquiry and Practice’. While ‘decolonization’ has been a key framework for historical research, it has assumed increasingly varied and nebulous meanings in teaching, where calls for ‘decolonizing’ are largely divorced from the actual end of empire. How does ‘decolonizing history’ relate to the study of decolonization? And can history, as a field of practice and study, be ‘decolonized’ without directly taking up histories of empire? Using the RHS report as a starting point, this conversation explores how we ‘decolonize history’. We argue that, rather than occurring through tokenism or the barest diversification of reading lists and course themes, decolonizing history requires rigorous critical study of empire, power and political contestation, alongside close reflection on constructed categories of social difference. Bringing together scholars from several UK universities whose teaching and research ranges across modern historical fields, this piece emphasizes how the study of empire and decolonization can bring a necessary global perspective to what tend to be framed as domestic debates on race, ethnicity, and gender.

Decolonising research approaches towards non-extractive research

“…Consequently, the campaign for decolonising canvasses diversity and multicultural approaches to knowledge production and creation (Akhter, 2020; Pratt and Hanson, 2020). The decolonising’ movement has spread from political liberation to education and research philosophies (Ashar, 2015; Behm et al , 2020; Keane et al , 2017; Zavala, 2013). Decolonising campaigns for “freeing of minds from colonial ideology” (Warwick Education Studies, 2020).…”

“…However, prevalent theoretical perspectives seem biased towards a Western-centric view (Kouritzin and Nakagawa, 2018; Klett and Arnulf, 2020; Bruton et al , 2018). Although Indigenous communities have a unique system of culture, beliefs and values (Groenfeldt, 2003; Behm et al , 2020; Nye, 2019), Western-influenced research philosophies and approaches dominate Indigenous knowledge (George et al , 2016).…”

“…Consequently, the campaign for decolonising canvasses diversity and multicultural approaches to knowledge production and creation (Akhter, 2020;Pratt & Hanson, 2020). The decolonising' movement has spread from political liberation to education and research philosophies (Ashar, 2015;Behm et al, 2020;Keane et al, 2017;Zavala, 2013) The starting point for most of the research conducted in the field of social science is the identification of predefined theory, understanding of new phenomena or search for a new ideology (Stewart & Klein, 2016). However, theories are heavily reliant on Western…”

“…Although Indigenous communities have a unique system of culture, beliefs, and values (Groenfeldt, 2003;Behm et al, 2020;Nye, 2019), Western-influenced research philosophies and approaches dominate indigenous knowledge (George et al, 2016).…”

Teaching Empire and War: Animating Marginalized Histories in the Classroom

“…In our classrooms, with our peers, in our departments, we were engaged in ongoing discussions about what 'decolonizing' meant for us in teaching practice and curricula design, which was often constrained by what we had been assigned to or inherited. 5 We were keen to establish an understanding of the past where people of colour (a shorthand here which requires disaggregation) were represented as actors of historical significance. We also sought to explore the network of connections forged by imperial rule and other geographies of power in order to navigate their postimperial afterlives.…”