Decolonising the curriculum

Article


Begum, N. and Saini, R. 2019. Decolonising the curriculum. Political Studies Review. 17 (2), pp. 196-201. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929918808459
TypeArticle
TitleDecolonising the curriculum
AuthorsBegum, N. and Saini, R.
Abstract

Social science courses are increasingly coming under fire for the over-representation of white male authors and theorists. Campaigns such as ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’ call into question the ‘Dead White Men’ approach to teaching political theory, where few female and theorists of colour are included on reading lists. The ways in which knowledge is produced, propagated and perpetuated through White, Western perspectives also spawned the related campaign ‘Why Is My Professor White?’ These campaigns are taking place against a backdrop of immense changes in the higher education sector, which earlier this year saw thousands of university academic staff go on strike over pensions, and a spate of anti-casualisation campaigns crop up at universities across the country. Changes such as these disproportionately affect women and ethnic minorities because of the extent to which we are subject to structural inequalities. Ethnic and gender penalties are present at every academic pay grade. Women are more likely to be on casual, part-time contracts. And ethnic minorities still constitute a minor proportion of senior academic and management staff in most universities. As women of colour (WOC) in the academy – emerging scholars of race who have yet to begin permanent academic roles – the decolonisation campaigns hold personal as well as professional resonance for us. They fuel our desire to impart real change in the way politics is taught in the United Kingdom and to help make a space for scholars like us. However, this desire must sit alongside the realities of our future in the academy. We both started out PhDs in the mid-2010s with the hope of becoming critical and radical but essentially fully fledged and secure academic employees. The structural changes the academy is undergoing not only undermines the work we do to represent the work of subaltern scholars in the field of politics but makes us question our ability as well as our desire to survive and thrive as academics.

Research GroupLaw and Politics
PublisherSAGE Publications
JournalPolitical Studies Review
ISSN1478-9299
Electronic1478-9302
Publication dates
Online06 Mar 2019
Print01 May 2019
Publication process dates
Deposited20 Sep 2019
Accepted30 Sep 2018
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
Copyright Statement

Begum, Neema and Saini, Rima, Decolonising the curriculum. Political Studies Review, 17 (2). pp. 196-201. Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929918808459.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929918808459
Web of Science identifierWOS:000464497800009
LanguageEnglish
Permalink -

https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/88779

Download files

  • 117
    total views
  • 380
    total downloads
  • 3
    views this month
  • 5
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

EDI and postgraduate research: report on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion review of postgraduate research at Middlesex University
Pizzolato, N., Saini, R., Stumbitz, B. and Sotiropoulou, P. 2024. EDI and postgraduate research: report on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion review of postgraduate research at Middlesex University. Middlesex University. https://doi.org/10.60528/1qw7q5
Politics, belonging and identity across the British South Asian middle classes: between privilege and prejudice
Saini, R. 2024. Politics, belonging and identity across the British South Asian middle classes: between privilege and prejudice. Palgrave Macmillan.
Book review: Derron Wallace, The culture trap: ethnic expectations and unequal schooling for Black youth
Saini, Rima 2024. Book review: Derron Wallace, The culture trap: ethnic expectations and unequal schooling for Black youth. Sociology. 58 (1), pp. 267-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385231184805
Minority ethnic politicians are pushing harsh immigration policies – why representation doesn’t always mean racial justice
Saini, R., Begum, N. and Bankole, M. 2023. Minority ethnic politicians are pushing harsh immigration policies – why representation doesn’t always mean racial justice. The Conversation Trust (UK).
The 2022 Conservative leadership campaign and post-racial gatekeeping
Saini, R., Bankole, M. and Begum, N. 2023. The 2022 Conservative leadership campaign and post-racial gatekeeping. Race & Class. 65 (2), pp. 55-74. https://doi.org/10.1177/03063968231164599
Decolonising quantitative methods teaching in UK sociology
Saini, R., Zwiener-Collins, N., Jafri, J. and Poulter, T. 2023. Decolonising quantitative methods teaching in UK sociology. in: Bhambra, G., Meghji, A., Tinsley, M. and Papadakis, S. (ed.) Rethinking British Sociology: Postcolonial and Decolonial Transformations Routledge.
Not so black and white: a history of race from white supremacy to identity politics by Kenan Malik, London, Hurst Press, 2023, 328pp., £20 (hardback), ISBN 978-1787387769 [Book Review]
Saini, R. 2023. Not so black and white: a history of race from white supremacy to identity politics by Kenan Malik, London, Hurst Press, 2023, 328pp., £20 (hardback), ISBN 978-1787387769 [Book Review]. Ethnic and Racial Studies. 47 (14), pp. 2912-2914. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2023.2213753
Decolonising quantitative research methods pedagogy: teaching contemporary politics to challenge hierarchies from data
Zwiener-Collins, N., Jafri, J., Saini, R. and Poulter, T. 2023. Decolonising quantitative research methods pedagogy: teaching contemporary politics to challenge hierarchies from data. Politics. 43 (1), pp. 122-138. https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211041449
The racialised ‘second existence’ of class: class identification and (de- / re-) construction across the British South Asian middle classes
Saini, R. 2023. The racialised ‘second existence’ of class: class identification and (de- / re-) construction across the British South Asian middle classes. Cultural Sociology. 17 (2), pp. 277-296. https://doi.org/10.1177/17499755221076388
The racialisation of class and the racialisation of the nation: ethnic minority identity formation across the british south asian middle classes
Saini, R. 2022. The racialisation of class and the racialisation of the nation: ethnic minority identity formation across the british south asian middle classes. South Asian Diaspora. 14 (2), pp. 109-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/19438192.2022.2055518
(Pseudo)intellectualism and democratic (il)liberalism: on Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter's "Reactionary democracy"
Saini, R. 2021. (Pseudo)intellectualism and democratic (il)liberalism: on Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter's "Reactionary democracy". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 44 (13), pp. 2381-2386. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1867759
Demarcation and definition: explicating the meaning and scope of ‘decolonisation’ in the social and political sciences
Saini, R. and Begum, N. 2020. Demarcation and definition: explicating the meaning and scope of ‘decolonisation’ in the social and political sciences. The Political Quarterly. 91 (1), pp. 217-221. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12797
The short guide to sociology
Doidge, M. and Saini, R. 2020. The short guide to sociology. Bristol, UK Policy Press.
Perceived quality of society
Harrison, E., Saini, R. and Zwiener, N. 2016. Perceived quality of society. New Economics Foundation.
Rationalising racial inequality: ideology, hegemony and post-racialism among the Black and South Asian middle-classes
Meghji, A. and Saini, R. 2018. Rationalising racial inequality: ideology, hegemony and post-racialism among the Black and South Asian middle-classes. Sociology. 52 (4), pp. 671-687. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038517726645
Book review: Eric S Brown, The Black Professional Middle Class: Race, Class, and Community in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Saini, R. 2015. Book review: Eric S Brown, The Black Professional Middle Class: Race, Class, and Community in the Post-Civil Rights Era. Work, Employment and Society. 29 (6), pp. 1041-1043. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017015602163