Open events

Over the past few years, there has been a proliferation of claims that implore either initiation or support of decolonization work within post-secondary institutions. These vague promises or call for decolonization are often highlighted within the institutional strategic plans and mission statements and is often tied to funding for classes on how faculty can decolonize our courses or how students can “decolonize themselves”. This current rhetoric poses decolonization as an individualized issue that universities are solving as benevolent leaders with lessons of “self-awareness” and diversification of course syllabi. These strategies gain favour because they are (intentionally) incapable or unwilling to dismantle the colonialist, eurocentric, and patriarchal foundations of post-secondary institutions.

Within this performative environment, as faculty members and sociologists, we interrogate the potential and barriers to decolonization within academia. This panel will present the work of and strategies on decolonization being utilized by fellow sociologists, hoping that such sharing will allow us to move beyond performativity statements for sustained decolonization work.