The consolidation of modern social theory coincided with the height of European empires and global war between them. By the mid-twentieth century, many European countries were confronted by anti-colonial movements and challenges to their global dominance. However, these challenges have had little impact on the organization of the social sciences. This conversation will focus on tensions and fictions around the concept of ‘decolonization’ in contemporary knowledge production and public sphere. What does it mean to ‘decolonise’ a social sciences curriculum in which colonialism is unrecognised? What does the stretching out of the concept entail for those who are still subjected to multiple states of coloniality? What would it look like to acknowledge and resist these multiple levels of coloniality?
