DECOLONISATION, revolution & evolution

272pp., paperback, Johannesburg, 2023

"With great range, clarity and force, Decolonisation explores the ways in which this political and economic ideal and epistemic project has been articulated and evolved … By drawing from a wide variety of disciplines – history, law, literature, philosophy, politics, development studies and practical life – it constitutes a striking contribution to enhancing our understanding of decolonisation and decoloniality, arguing that it is ‘illusory to believe that these phenomena are a thing of the past’." Lawrence Hamilton, SA UK Bilateral Research Professor in Political Theory, Universities of the Witwatersrand and Cambridge

"South Africa with its ‘Rhodes Must Fall’ campaign has been one of the principal sources of the current international decolonisation activism. This activism has given rise to new theories and scholarship that engage with the politics of culture on an international scale. The voices gathered in this volume widen the relevant discussions and studies on decolonisation for scholars both in the Global North and the Global South." Tariq Modood, Director, Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, University of Bristol

Contributions include:

"The Invention of Blacks: Notes on Conquest, Fear and Time" by Ndumiso Dladla

"The Decolonisation of Southern Africa: Historical Reflections" by Chris Saunders"

The Border of Trust at Kat River for Coloured Settlers, 1851–1853" by Christopher Allsobrook and Camilla Boisen

"Fanon’s Challenge: Identity, Recognition and Ideology" by David Boucher

"Beyond Redemption: Unsettling Progressive-Romantic Storyings of Colonial Injustice in Western Critical Thought" by Michael Elliott

"Decolonisation – Real and Imagined" by Steven Friedman

"Pedagogical Disobedience in an Era of Unfinished Decolonisation" by Amber Murrey  

David Boucher is Professor of Political Philosophy and International Relations, and Director of the Collingwood and British Idealism Centre at Cardiff University. He is also Distinguished Visiting Professor, Department of Political Science at the University of Johannesburg.

Ayesha Omar is Senior Lecturer in political theory in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand and Research Associate at SOAS, University of London.