DECOLONISING EDUCATION: EPISTEMIC JUSTICE AND PLURAL KNOWLEDGES

Abstract

Decolonising education is an immediate intellectual and political initiative that seeks to break down the legacies of colonial power that persist in the knowledge systems and curricula, pedagogies and institutions in the contemporary world. Complementary to knowledge justice, knowledge justice attends to equity, epistemic plurality, and the ethical redistribution of cognitive power among cultures, communities, and social locations. This chapter is a critical analysis of the historical origins of colonial knowledge production, the epistemic injustices perpetuated by the modern system of education and the possibilities of decolonial praxis. The chapter draws on postcolonial theory, critical pedagogy, Indigenous epistemologies, and Global South perspectives, as a reorientation of education toward plural knowledges, contextual relevance, and social justice is suggested. Special emphasis is put on the situation in the Indian and Global South, where colonial epistemic superiorities still create a culture of higher education and research. The chapter ends with observing pedagogical, curricular and institutional policies and activities of promoting knowledge justice in a globalised but unequal world.