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| Decolonial Studies Collective | |
|---|---|
| Name | Decolonial Studies Collective |
| Formation | 2010s |
| Type | Research collective |
| Headquarters | Unaffiliated / Networked |
| Fields | Decolonial studies, postcolonial studies, indigenous studies |
Decolonial Studies Collective The Decolonial Studies Collective is a transnational research network that convenes scholars, activists, and artists to study colonialism, anticolonial movements, and knowledge production. Founded in the 2010s, the Collective operates through distributed chapters and partnerships with universities, museums, and grassroots organizations to produce scholarship, pedagogy, and public programs. It engages with archives, oral histories, and interdisciplinary methods to link contemporary social movements with historical struggles across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania.
The Collective emerged from discussions among scholars connected to Walter Mignolo, Aníbal Quijano, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, and networks around Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Homi K. Bhabha, as well as community activists affiliated with Zapatista Army of National Liberation, Movimiento de los Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra, and Idle No More. Early convenings included participants linked to Brown University, University of California, Berkeley, Goldsmiths, University of London, National Autonomous University of Mexico, and University of Cape Town. Influences cited include the work of Edward Said, Stuart Hall, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Dipesh Chakrabarty, and archival practices developed at institutions such as British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Smithsonian Institution. The Collective formed alliances with Amnesty International, Transnational Institute, International Labour Organization, and regional groups like Pan-African Congress and Association for Asian Studies.
The Collective declares objectives resonant with the writings of Kwame Nkrumah, W. E. B. Du Bois, José Martí, Simón Bolívar, and Subcomandante Marcos: to critique settler colonialism, imperialism, and racial capitalism; to restore suppressed knowledges of Maya and Arawak communities, Maori and Aboriginal Australians; and to support reparative policies influenced by debates around the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Canada), South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and reparations movements tied to the Haiti and Kenya independence struggles. The agenda foregrounds pedagogical projects in partnership with UNESCO, Council of Europe, and municipal actors in cities like Mexico City, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Lima, and Wellington.
Research lines draw on archival recovery associated with Gerda Lerner and Pierre Nora, oral history practices used by Paul Thompson, ethnographies in the mode of Clifford Geertz, and comparative analyses inspired by Immanuel Wallerstein and Saskia Sassen. Methodologies include decolonial ethnography applied in contexts such as Palestine, Kurdistan, Western Sahara, and Puerto Rico; spatial analysis referencing scholars connected to Lefebvre and projects in New Orleans and Dhaka; and legal-historical work involving cases like Brown v. Board of Education, Mabo v Queensland, and International Court of Justice advisory opinions. Collaborations involve archives such as Hunterian Museum, National Archives (UK), Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico), and community repositories associated with Black Lives Matter and Landless Workers' Movement (Brazil).
Programs include public seminars modelled on forums at Tate Modern, Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), and Hay Festival; graduate workshops run in collaboration with Columbia University, SOAS University of London, University of São Paulo, and University of Nairobi; and field schools conducted alongside Survival International and Cultural Survival. The Collective organizes conferences echoing the scale of World Social Forum and thematic symposia paralleling Princeton University conferences on race and empire. Outreach projects range from curriculum co-design with Ministry of Education (Peru) and local councils in Barcelona to museum interventions with National Museum of the American Indian and community art projects linked to Documenta and Venice Biennale participants.
Membership spans independent scholars, tenured faculty from institutions such as Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Chicago, University of Melbourne, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia; activists associated with Movement for Black Lives, Feminist Majority Foundation, and La Via Campesina; and artists who have exhibited at Serpentine Galleries and collaborated with Ai Weiwei and Theaster Gates. Governance is distributed, with working groups inspired by cooperative models used by Mondragon Corporation and decision-making practices resembling those of Zapatista. Advisory councils include elders and knowledge-holders connected to Navajo Nation, Sámi Parliament, Torres Strait Islanders, and scholars who have worked on commissions like South African Commission of Inquiry.
The Collective publishes edited volumes, working papers, and special journal issues in outlets comparable to Comparative Studies in Society and History, Social Text, Postcolonial Studies (journal), Third World Quarterly, and Journal of Latin American Studies. Its fellows have contributed chapters to collections alongside writers such as Edward Said and Gayatri Spivak and have influenced curricular reforms at University of Cape Town, McGill University, and University of the West Indies. The Collective’s work informs museum curation at institutions like Victoria and Albert Museum, restitution debates involving Benin Bronzes, and policy discussions at United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Critiques reference debates involving Noam Chomsky, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and institutions like Council for the Defence of British Universities over issues of academic freedom, ideological bias, and methodological rigor. Controversies have arisen over partnerships with state actors in Bolivia and Ecuador, disputes mirroring tensions seen in the 2011 UK student protests, and disagreements about representation similar to disputes at Smithsonian Institution and restitution controversies involving Louvre Museum and British Museum. Critics also invoke clashes over intellectual property and community consent paralleling legal battles such as The Cherokee Nation v. United States and debates around Nagoya Protocol implementation.