Demarcation and definition: explicating the meaning and scope of ‘decolonisation’ in the social and political sciences

Decolonisation of the curriculum is a burgeoning yet controversial project of radical change, gaining slow but steady traction in higher education politics departments across the country. At its heart is the acknowledgement and systematic unravelling of colonial and imperial practices in the UK university system. This article pins down what decolonisation is and is not, highlighting the barriers and tentative opportunities to effective decolonisation work. This is discussed in the context of the structural constraints that critical scholars of race — particularly those at the intersection of marginalised racial and gender identities — work against in the academy.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: 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: 217-221, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12797. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.