What might decoloniality look like in praxis?

Abstract

Decoloniality—which encompasses conceptual frameworks of grounded normativity, grounded relationality, re-earthing, and meta ethical enquiries—yields radically different opportunities for planning theory: opportunities that are explicitly de-linked from occidental systems of thought. Yet, some planning scholars question decoloniality’s transferability into practice. The aim of this article is to demonstrate decoloniality’s political and spatial outcomes from the vantagepoint of one geopolitical region by exploring communal landholdings in southern Africa where traditional leaders remain custodians of lands, cultures, languages, and nonhuman actants, and where residents continue to engage with pre-colonial land laws. Findings reveal not only optimistic possibilities but also sobering concerns.