Decolonizing social sciences education at the limits of the archive: A response concerning “postcolonial” social science

Abstract

Highlights:

– Differentiates ‘postcolonial’ from ‘decolonial’ social science.

– Defines decolonial strategies of double translation, reverse tutelage, double and decolonial repair.

– Theorizes using South Africa as a theoretical limit and political test case.

– Provides examples of a taught Masters curriculum in Social Theory and a global open educational resource.

– Critiques the limitations of performative decolonization and gestures towards alternatives.

Purpose: This article responds to the topic of ‘postcolonial social science education’ by exploring strategies for decolonizing the social science ‘archive’.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper takes a decolonial-critical social science approach to explore the limit and test cases for decolonizing social science education, using two examples: a Social Theory course in Ireland and a global open educational project, Connected Sociologies.

Findings: It explores three decolonial strategies for social science education: double translation, reverse tutelage, and double repair. It theorizes beyond these by thinking with a more expansive, speculative South African project of decolonial repair.

Research limitations/implications: While the practical strategies for decolonizing social theory and broader, speculative ambitions for decolonial repair are not directly comparable, the contrasting loci enable critical, but hopeful reflection on possibilities for decolonizing social science education more broadly, responding to the limit case imposed by neoliberal academic restructuring.