Different Spaces, Different Voices: A Rendezvous with Decoloniality

By Sayan Dey

This collection of interviews from
from various decolonial researchers
and academicians across the world
centrally reflects upon upon two
crucial aspects - the differences
between the concepts of postcoloniality
and decoloniality, and the multifarious
forms of decolonial thinking and doing
that are taking place in the
contemporary era.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Mar 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9789388930161

Book preview

Introduction: Voicing

Decoloniality

As the physically visible empires of colonialism receded, the metaphysical, invisible empires of coloniality gradually came to the forefront and ideally replaced their predecessors. With the ‘official’ end of colonialism by the end of 20th century, across the Global South and Far East, the colonial subjects (mis) interpreted it as the ultimate end of Euro-centric (or widely West-centric) dominations and the appropriate moment for recuperating their degenerated systems of traditional knowledge production. With the passage of time, it has been realized that colonialism didn’t wither away, but it only transformed itself into more acceptable, justified, diverse and authentic forms which the decolonial critiques identify as ‘global modernity/coloniality.’ The global modernity/coloniality program is a postmodern gargantuan project that virtually transports individuals into a fairyland of pseudo-promises, happiness and perfection, guarded by the unquestionable ethics of Westcentrism.

Though it is a postcolonial phenomenon, its genesis could be traced back to the colonial times. The colonizers very well knew that their empires are not everlasting; therefore, both physically and psychologically, they seduced and coerced the natives over different segments of time and space and schooled them in their ideologies. This generated a global community of colonial spokespersons (or, rather, colonial puppets) who, along with their successors, have created a well-entrenched class of policy makers to sustain a neo-colonized world. They have distributed themselves across diverse existential disciplines of the living civilization and have continued to mimic the West through their behavioral patterns, fashion, food cultures, eating habits, academics, politics, developmental policies, etc. The socio-political hierarchies and the fragmentations, which evolved during colonialism, have further widened and have been weaving their web of universal domination in a very systematic and logical manner. Therefore, Spain and Portugal used the civilizing logic to dominate and uproot the natives of the Americas, and later on the Dutch, French, British, Germans and the Belgians followed into their footsteps and practiced a more dehumanized pattern of colonialism under the logic of scientific advancements. The same could be seen in case of South Asia, South-East Asia and Australia.

In the contemporary times, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom implement the logic of global security and humanitarian values to intervene into the internal socio-political affairs of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Egypt, and kill innumerable civilians. The US also delivers the logic of national development and citizen welfare through their Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project and uproots the native tribal communities. The still colonially structured governing bodies of South Africa criminalizes the starving labour class in order to avoid any form of threat to their corruptive and discriminating form of governance. The colonially influenced upper class elites in India continue to dominate and exploit the individuals of lower class and castes through the logic of socio-political welfare. These activities, altogether, generated a dire need of counter-logic – the logic of decoloniality, which occupies the central theme of this book. It not only interrogates the theoretical premise of post-coloniality but also explores the diverse ways of unlearning the universal, Westcentric, hetero-normative, epistemological frameworks and of re-creating diverse, pluriversal and traditional hermeneutical possibilities.

Some of the critical questions which encompass the individual interrogations during the interviews are outlined below:

•How the theoretical premise of postcoloniality can be differentiated from decoloniality?

•What are the diverse ways in which decoloniality functions as a medium of counter-discourse to the established logics of colonialism and later coloniality?

Keeping these questions at the backdrop, the book brings together thirteen decolonial scholars from thirteen different geo-cultural spaces on the same interactive platform. Instead of being authorship focused, this project looks forward to unfurl the diverse voices of decoloniality through various intriguing questions that unravel the real struggles and impediments (both individual and collective) associated with decolonial thinking and doing in the contemporary era.

Chapter Details

Chapter 1. Postcoloniality or Decoloniality?: Confusions and Conflicts – The book commences with Professor Bill Ashcroft’s interview. Prof. Ashcroft talks about the misinterpretations of the concept of postcoloniality across the globe and the way it has transformed since his publication of The Empire Writes Back in 1989. He also gives his views on decoloniality and also discusses its importance with respect to the contemporary forms of discriminations by the US Empire across different parts of Africa and Asia. The interview concludes with the diverse aspects which should be taken into consideration in order to understand and interpret the designs of coloniality.

Chapter 2. Re-thinking Decoloniality: Interrogations, Debates and Discussions – The second chapter is the interview with Professor Walter Mignolo who invites us to re-interrogate and re-think decoloniality. Prof. Mignolo addresses the importance of correct decolonial understandings, which is often subjected to alarming misrepresentations. He also pushes ahead to unveil the current global/colonial designs and the diverse ways in which they are being imposed. He not only stresses on the correct interpretations of decolonial understanding but also elaborates on some of the significant decolonial socio-political initiatives which have been undertaken till date. Prof. Mignolo insists on the utter need for a serious ‘decolonial turn’. The latter is the topic of the next interview.

Chapter 3. Turning the Decolonial Way: A Pluriversal Approach – The third interview interrogates the diverse ways of decolonial thinking and doing, and the different forms of practices, like self-meditation and self-interrogation that Professor Nelson Maldonado-Torres introduces as a part of decolonial exercises. Prof. Maldonado-Torres talks about the importance of Frantz Fanon towards a proper understanding of decoloniality and the multiple ways through which universal modes of regular discourses could be replaced by pluriversality.

Chapter 4. Demystifying Creolization, Decolonizing Creole Studies – The question of pluri-versal understanding, as addressed by Maldonado-Torres in the last chapter, shifts its focus the decolonial analysis of language and linguistics through the use of Haitian Creole in research and in teaching, as discussed by Professor Michel DeGraff. Prof. DeGraff meticulously explores the importance of dismantling the globally-colonially constructed system of language syntax through his research on linguistics and education in Haiti. In this interview, he primarily focuses on the debate on ‘high language’ and ‘low language,’ and the way it has affected the education of children in Haiti. He also talks about the challenges that he and his colleagues face in their efforts to promote mother tongues like Haitian Creole as tools for opening up access to quality education. He concludes the interview by drawing an optimistic future map associated with the usage of local vernaculars across different parts of the world. He argues that, in spite of major political barriers, the gradual success of introducing Haitian Creole in the schools of Haiti can inspire other communities throughout the Global South that are trying to promote their own local vernaculars as media for education and for the production and transmission of knowledge.

Chapter 5. Decoloniality and Creative Expressions: Writing Africa’s Traditions – The importance of local vernacular forms of expression undergoes a creative turn in this interview with Professor Babafemi Adeyemi Osofisan also known as Femi Osofisan. talks about his experiences of being a novelist and playwright at the same time, and also the different factors that motivated him to adapt the works of writers like Euripides, Wole Soyinka, Nikolai Gogol and J.P. Clark. He steers ahead to discuss how he uses cultural arts and literature as a decolonial weapon to expose the societal ills of Africa. Especially with respect to drama and theatre, Prof. Osofisan also describes the way the reading of a play and an onstage theatrical enactment can mobilize the masses towards understanding the contemporary problems of (post)coloniality, in a far better manner than academic discussions in conferences, classrooms, etc.

Chapter 6. Developing a Decolonial South Africa: Nation and its Nationhood – The African question continues to feature in the discussion with Morgan Ndlovu. In this interview, Ndlovu lays bare the alarming socio-political situation of contemporary South Africa and talks about nation and nationhood from the perspective of decoloniality and development studies. He starts his interview with outlining the different ways in which the paradigm of decoloniality can be associated with development studies. Then he talks about the challenges that South Africa is facing today in its effort of building a diverse and cohesive national identity, beyond the West-centric nation-state phenomenon, which persists in the form of socio-economic, cultural and political hierarchies weaved over the natives by the natives.

Chapter 7. Queer Decoloniality: Embracing the Exterior ‘Other’ – In continuation with South Africa, this interview with queer activist and student Zuko Zikalala decries the present situation of queer rights in South Africa and the challenges they face in their daily modes of existence. Zuko shares the experiences and the challenges he has faced till now as a queer black in South Africa. He also reflects on the differences that lie between ‘official declarations’ and ‘real happenings’ as observed in the case of queer participation in academics, jobs and other aspects of daily life. He concludes the interview by underlining the need to incorporate queer readings within the academic curriculum of school education systems, and the way his current research is going to contribute towards an optimistic, decolonial African future.

Chapter 8. Performing Decoloniality: Voicing the Body – The diverse forms of decolonial practices engage a captivating discussion with Tariro Mavondo in this chapter. A well acclaimed Melbourne based artist of Zimbabwean descent, Tariro unfolds the multiple ways in which decoloniality could be associated with theatrical performances. Besides being an active theatre performer, she is also an ardent story-teller and therefore, she elaborates on the importance of story-telling in the contemporary times. She also reveals the challenges that she and her community experiences in the process of conserving their heritages and folklores, and the way she uses her body as a weapon to counter it.

Chapter 9. Reviving Indigenous Spaces: Echoes of a Native Spirit – In this interview, Nishnaabeg scholar and musician Leanne Simpson, interprets land as a form of decolonial pedagogical space by unraveling her community history and heritage. She commences her interview with the importance of protecting the indigenous, native lands to recuperate the traditional past. She moves forward to share the different community cults she has imbibed from her parents and grandparents, and the way she uses the mythological and folkloristic elements in her writings, songs and story-telling performances.

Chapter 10. The Subalterns Can Speak: Decoloniality and Ojibwe Thinking – In continuation to the last chapter, this interview involves Jonnelle Walker, an Ojibwe scholar who talks about the childhood experiences that shaped the current patterns of her research with respect to the indigenous communities of America. She also shares the diverse forms of Ojibwe heritages and folklores, and the way her community struggles to preserve them in the contemporary era.

Chapter 11. Decolonial Epistemology and Feminism: A Journey beyond the West – This interview with Professor Madina Tlostanova interrogates the diverse struggle of women belonging to multiple communities across the globe, beyond the West-centric, totalitarian, hegemonic and hierarchical ideologies of feminism. Prof. Tlostanova elaborates the importance of decolonial epistemic frameworks for not only analyzing the feminine conditions but also the LGBT issues, with the postcolonial/decolonial debate at the backdrop. Besides being involved with decolonial feminism, she is also actively involved with decolonial aesthetics and therefore, she shares her experiences with artists, curators, museums and activists, and the audience’s reactions to her work.

Chapter 12. Is There a Decolonial Way of Thinking?: The Indian Story – This interview reflects upon the various confusions and conflicts with respect to the theoretical understandings of post-coloniality and decoloniality in contemporary India. In this interview, Chand Basha M engages critically with the established notions of postcoloniality in India which should not only be challenged but also completely dismantled. He also talks about the colonially constructed global phenomenon of Islamophobia, which has normalized violence against the Muslims, and the importance of decolonizing the academic system to evade such colonially sponsored victimizations. He concludes his interview with the multiple ways in which academics (from primary schools to higher education and research institutes) could function as a prominent medium to decolonize the contemporary Indian society and shape a firm, decolonial Indian future.

Chapter 13. Racism beyond Colors: Stories from North-east of India – In this interview Babli Mallick explores (re)colonization and racialization in North-east India. Keeping her research engagements at the background, she talks about the problems of socio-historical and cultural homogenization of the North-east. Since the colonial times, the North-eastern part of India has been mostly neglected. The colonial hangover continues to exist in the contemporary era as the indigenous natives of North-east are portrayed with various biases, conflicts, gaps and silences. Through her interview Mallick also unfurls the various ways through which communities in the North-east are trying to decolonize and dehierarchize their existence.

Chapter 14. ‘Freedom’ from ‘Independence’: Dehierarchizing Existence – In the final interview of this book eminent Dalit poet Chandramohan Satyanathan talks about the various forms of caste discriminations which he has encountered since his childhood days. He argues that the ideology of caste is so deeply ingrained within us that any form of social, cultural, political and economic benefits extended by the governing institutes proves futile. He also