Written by Decolonial Subversions
Decolonial Subversions , 2023
This article will examine Wide Sargasso Sea as a revisionist prequel to Brontë's Jane Eyre. Using... more This article will examine Wide Sargasso Sea as a revisionist prequel to Brontë's Jane Eyre. Using the first revisionary ratio of Harold Bloom, Clinamen, the article argues that Rhys depicts a proactive female servitude through the figure of Christophine who, unlike Jane and the other female servants in Brontë's text, challenges the patriarchal rule of the unnamed Rochester instead of blindly abiding by it and resists being othered or essentialized by him. This, in a way, liberates the narrative from the filial bond with Brontë's text, providing an original plot that stands on its own. The article will also suggest that despite her so-called limited agency, as suggested by many critics, Christophine masters navigating through the interesting constraints of color, gender, and class.
Decolonial Subversions, 2023
Il racconto "Donna Mimma" di Luigi Pirandello si focalizza sulle disastrose conseguenze di un'un... more Il racconto "Donna Mimma" di Luigi Pirandello si focalizza sulle disastrose conseguenze di un'unificazione nazionale italiana mal riuscita (1861). Ad unità avvenuta, il Parlamento italiano bandisce pratiche secolari come quella della levatrice rovinando completamente la vita di donna Mimma. Nel suo tentativo di diventare il soggetto che la piemontizzazione le
richiede di essere, è costretta a vivere nella condizione di mimetismo. Da soggetto colonizzato, Mimma dovrebbe acquisire una nuova identità come quella della Piemontesa, l'ostetrica venuta dal Piemonte per usurpare il suo posto di lavoro. Tuttavia, donna Mimma, come suggetto colonizzato, non potrà mai raggiungere la “somiglianza” con la Piemontesa, come conseguenza perderàì il suo impiego e l'alcol diventerà la sua unica consolazione.
Decolonial Subversions, 2023
The short story "Madam Mimma" by Luigi Pirandello deals with the disastrous aftermath of a poorly... more The short story "Madam Mimma" by Luigi Pirandello deals with the disastrous aftermath of a poorly achieved Italian national unification (1861). The Italian Parliament's decrees outlawed century-old practices, like that of delivering children by midwives, utterly ruining Mimma's life. In her attempt to become the subject that the piemontizzazione 2 she is forced to live in the mimicry condition of the colonized. As a colonized subject, Mimma is expected to acquire a new identity like that of Piemontesa, the obstetrician who came from Piedmont to usurp her job. However, Mimma can never achieve "sameness" with Piemontesa; thus, she loses her job and alcohol becomes her only consolation. This article will read the work "against the grain" through a postcolonial lens, denouncing the creation of Italy's nation-state through Sicily's piemontizzazione.
Decolonial Subversions, 2023
The abolitionist thinking, proliferated particularly by U.S. Black feminist radicals in the wake ... more The abolitionist thinking, proliferated particularly by U.S. Black feminist radicals in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, exposed police reformism as liberal subterfuge facilitating the expansion of the carceral state. This article utilizes the relationship between police reform and abolition as a prism through which to look at international development aid. If international aid is thought of as a reform effort serving the interests of colonialism, what is the abolitionist approach to international development? This commentary suggests that abolitionist logic grounded in the US-based movement for Black lives can expose international aid reform as a neoliberal tool and simultaneously unmask the potential for a radical vision of development based in a commitment to liberation rather than white/western/northern supremacy.
Decolonial Subversions, 2023
Artist Jenny Lee discusses her painting Maelstrom in this interview. She reflects on the symbolic... more Artist Jenny Lee discusses her painting Maelstrom in this interview. She reflects on the symbolic forms of communicating meaning that are rooted in her connection to her family’s experiences. She discusses how art can act not only as a vehicle for engaging with the colonial, for telling a story about it, but that it can move the viewer to feel and act. The interview points to the complexity of emotions that constitute a political engagement with artistic expression, those that blend melancholy and hope.
Decolonial Subversions, 2023
Decolonial Subversions , 2023
Dedicated to Nabil Matar A little girl devoured by hyenas! She insisted on exploring all over the... more Dedicated to Nabil Matar A little girl devoured by hyenas! She insisted on exploring all over the world! A little girl bid farewell to her family, sheep, goats, and neighbours She accompanied her uncle A little girl devoured by hyenas! She insisted on exploring all over the world! A girl bid farewell to Sous, its tree, its stone and its sand She accompanied her uncle A little girl devoured by hyenas! She insisted on exploring all over the world! A little girl sheltered in the shade of the Argana And she blessed her sheikh Al-Ahmad So she jumped like her sheikh Musa did And she went ahead…so she managed to climb up the pyramid With eyes filled with tears And a sandy face reminiscent of the depth of the desert A little girl devoured by hyenas!
Decolonial Subversions, 2023
Kevin J. Brazant presents Disrupt the Discourse, a digital tool kit of resources and content insp... more Kevin J. Brazant presents Disrupt the Discourse, a digital tool kit of resources and content inspired by Critical Race Theory, values of social justice and anti-racism practice. This toolkit incorporates a web-based eLearning course builder that allows the development of online courses for any device. This toolkit has been purposefully designed and developed, cognisant of the challenges of digital poverty (i.e. lack of access to laptops and the adoption of mobile learning, such as using smartphones and smaller devices and navigating intermittent and unstable internet connections). It serves as a reference point and guide for educators seeking to facilitate courageous conversations relating to both staff and students who identify as Black Indigenous People of colour (BIPOC) and their lived experiences as they navigate colonial and white spaces both figuratively and physically. Users of the toolkit
Decolonial Subversions , 2023
Decolonial Subversions, 2022
The second online meeting of the Decolonial Subversions Reading Group took place on Friday 4 th M... more The second online meeting of the Decolonial Subversions Reading Group took place on Friday 4 th March 2022 and the attendees were (in alphabetical order): Ibtisam, Monika, Muraina and Vincenzo. Surprisingly, even though most of the participants were different, some points raised during the previous meeting were touched also on this occasion, such as the selection of sources in academia based on their validity, and the extent of their general recognition when these sources are part of non-mainstream research approaches.
Decolonial Subversions, 2022
Review of Returning Southeast Asia’s Past: Objects, Museums, and Restitution. Edited by Louise T... more Review of Returning Southeast Asia’s Past: Objects, Museums, and Restitution. Edited by Louise Tythacott and Panggah Ardiyansyah
Decolonial Subversions, 2022
This essay examines the concept of the 'failed state' from a theoretical and empirical perspectiv... more This essay examines the concept of the 'failed state' from a theoretical and empirical perspective arguing that the false characterisation of Somalia as a failed state has severe consequences on the future of state building. The popularization of 'failed state' in the political lexicon has proven to be problematic when analysing states such as Somalia, as the term has inbuilt contradictions and inconsistencies that makes it worthless as a political tool for analysis yet have severe and tangible consequences on state building. This article aims to debunk the myth of 'failed states' from a theoretical perspective by exposing the legacy of coloniality in statehood and the role of external agents in destabilizing Somalia, drawing on Constructivist and Post-Colonial theory to do so. Domestic state building projects in Somalia are repeatedly undermined and destabilized because the label of 'failure' has restricted the notion of governance to conform to a Western ideal. The Somali context demonstrates that the clan, a historic entity of socio-political order, and Islam are legitimate sources of governance and security beyond the state. By exploring indigenous state building projects, with a tight focus on clannism and the Islamic Court Union (ICU) movement, Somalia proves to be an arena for competing political realities showcasing that the reality of the situation is more complex than initially thought. This article examines the implications of using the 'failed state' as an approach, concluding that processes of state building are Western and extremely particular, and need to actively integrate the Somali identity in processes of state building and as such how governance is conceptualized needs to be re-evaluated.
Decolonial Subversions, 2022
The biomedical paradigm, characterised by the separation of human from nature, of mind from body,... more The biomedical paradigm, characterised by the separation of human from nature, of mind from body, and of 'us' from 'them', is encrusted with the jewels of western exploitation. Its legacy, one of many, has been to permit critical thinking to be infused with the domination of scientific knowledge over indigenous knowledge, of expert experience over patient experience, and of western knowledge over knowledge from other regions. Planetary sustainability has put us all into an uncomfortable liminal space where there is an urgent need to develop new ways of thinking to navigate the complexity and uncertainties of the Anthropocene. The decolonization/dismantling of the historically biased, epistemically rigid, hierarchical thinking that has led us to the brink of environmental collapse must re-centre a more 'nomadic' or 'rhizomic' type of thinking that works against the grain of traditional western categories and conventional methods, making breathing space for experiential person-centred, ecological wisdom to blossom. What might this look like for global health and academia? Practicing medicine using an ecological lens; a system with geographically diverse representation in the authorship of scientific literature; methodological diversity in the top journals, placing qualitative research, stories and art on an equal footing with Randomised Controlled Trials; and editorial boards composed in part of lay members. A more inclusive academe, through Cultural Safety, where works from patients, service users, indigenous community voices are published alongside and co-produced with expert/professional communities is a step in the right direction.
Decolonial Subversions, 2021
Decolonial Subversions Main Issue 2021
‘Decent work’ is a concept, which seeks to promote opportunities where all workers are entitled t... more ‘Decent work’ is a concept, which seeks to promote opportunities where all workers are entitled to employment security, freedom, equality, recognition and dignity. This paper presents an attempt to understand decent work deficit conditions amongst urban informal workers who occupy two different economic sectors in the Bulawayo central business district. The study applies the Edward Webster Decent Work Deficit Index as its theoretical framework to understand the differences between the two groups of informal workers. The findings indicate that, for the sampled informal workers, decent work meant work related improvements, insurances and risk management, right of expression and business advancement skills, all of which closely resembles the International Labour Organisation’s conceptualisation of decent work. The findings also highlighted that childcare assistance and disability insurance are concepts, which remain excluded from the current conceptualisation of decent work in the Zimbabwean context. The survey findings revealed that food vendors scored poorly on the decent work deficit index compared to the clothing traders. The paper offers a new policy angle, which shows that, to advance decent work, the
concept of heterogeneity must be incorporated into informal economy analysis. The paper also advances the postulation that the Edward Webster Decent Work Deficit Index can be used as an appropriate methodology for monitoring progress towards achieving decent work standards at the micro level.
Decolonial Subversions Main Issue 2021
In apartheid South Africa, the Afrikaner government imposed Afrikaans throughout the country (Rob... more In apartheid South Africa, the Afrikaner government imposed Afrikaans throughout the country (Roberge, 2002) and used indigenous languages to divide the population. In 1953, the Bantu Education Act created a parallel school system for Black people (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2016; Msila, 2007; Nkondo, 1979) and in Bantu schools mother tongue instruction functioned as a barrier to higher education. Regarding this, Tollefson (2015) argues that language policies are key to reproducing or resolving inequalities. Once apartheid ended, nine indigenous languages became official; the School Act of 1996 unified the school system, and the Language Policy in Education of 1997 established the use of three official languages in schools. However, as this paper demonstrates, English (introduced in colonial times) and Afrikaans are still dominant, thus showing the colonial legacy. In this opinion paper, the language policy of a traditional, prestigious school in Cape Town is investigated to show the relevance of language policies and ideologies (Woolard, 2016) to decolonising the curriculum and to highlight how the roles assigned to each language cast light on the school's commitment to decolonisation and multilingualism. This investigation supports Cooper's (1989) assertion that the language of instruction tends to be used as a competition ground for the elites. The analysis was based on a qualitative approach (Vasilachis, 2016) using a virtual ethnographic study (Hine, 2004).
Decolonial Subversions Main Issue 2021
The aim of the present article is to introduce and discuss the decolonial vision of the Brazilian... more The aim of the present article is to introduce and discuss the decolonial vision of the Brazilian philosopher, Djamila Ribeiro, through an analysis of her books, O que é lugar de fala? (2017) and Pequeno manual antirracista (2019). In particular, I want to stress the importance of academic debate where everyone takes part equally in order to decolonise knowledge, inside and outside the academic domain. Since academia is still consolidating the hierarchical distinctions among races and genders in terms of knowledge production and fruition that reverberate outside the university environment, I use Ribeiro's works as a starting point to develop a wider debate. This relates to the processes of suppression by silencing all those who are situated outside the hegemonic white, male, and heterosexual discourses and to the subversive power of acknowledging one's own social positioning, lugar de fala. Ribeiro is widely inspired by a long list of writers and thinkers from different parts of the globe who deconstruct and criticise long-established mainstream "western" thought, hence allowing a shift in perspective from the standpoint of the dominant to that of culturally and physically dominated figures, through the act of speaking. Despite their immateriality, words are a strong weapon of subjugation and domination, having been used for centuries to establish and exert power. Finally, this article stresses the importance of 'listening' as a fundamental and complementary act to that of 'speaking' in order to decolonise physical as well as intellectual spaces of knowledge production and fruition.
Decolonial Subversions Main Issue 2021
The Academy is a hybrid between a creative platform and a corporate industry. On the one hand, we... more The Academy is a hybrid between a creative platform and a corporate industry. On the one hand, we are given the liberty to explore, dare and critique. On the other, we must constantly negotiate this liberty with loyalty and commitment to the hierarchical structure we belong to. "Be brave but be smart" summarises the contradictions that, at present, I endorse as a PhD researcher. It is provocative in reflecting on the experience of a young aspirant scholar and on the internal dilemma of choosing between fitting in or looking beyond the boundaries that the Academy imposes. In turn, the paper reflects on the frustration that comes with being exposed to epistemic freedom but conscious of the danger that this freedom comes with. This reflection unfolds into a dialogue between two journeys. The first one considers the evolution of epistemically disobedient ways of knowing and writing. The second is my own intimate and intellectual journey as a writer in social science. By entangling these two journeys, the paper draws attention to the tensions that exist between the intellectual stimuli we receive as researchers, the emotional drivers influencing our writing, and the institutional machine we are part of.
Decolonial Subversions Main Issue 2021
The first online meeting of the Decolonial Subversions Reading Group took place on Friday 27th No... more The first online meeting of the Decolonial Subversions Reading Group took place on Friday 27th November 2021. The attendees were (in alphabetical order): Gavaza, Rachel, Romina and Vincenzo. It was a productive and stimulating occasion to talk about decolonisation and decolonial practices; considering the positive outcome, this experience will inform and foster future online meetings in following months, with the conscious aim being to include more people, both within and outside the academic environment.
Foreword/ Decolonial Subversions, 2020
While contemporary decolonisation movements have gathered pace in higher education institutions s... more While contemporary decolonisation movements have gathered pace in higher education institutions since South African students initiated #RhodesMustFall in 2015, the focus has been overwhelmingly on addressing matters of teaching -the narrow demographics of teaching staff, racialised student attainment gaps, the White curriculum, and unidirectional, arrogant pedagogical styles. But teaching is undergirded, of course, by academic researchby what is considered to constitute knowledge itself, and by what knowledge is accessible in any given context. Challenging parochial definitions of knowledge, and transforming publication modes, methods, and venues has to be at the very heart of decolonial activism, since who gets published and how affects everything from academic recruitment and tenure processes to programme and curriculum design.
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Written by Decolonial Subversions
richiede di essere, è costretta a vivere nella condizione di mimetismo. Da soggetto colonizzato, Mimma dovrebbe acquisire una nuova identità come quella della Piemontesa, l'ostetrica venuta dal Piemonte per usurpare il suo posto di lavoro. Tuttavia, donna Mimma, come suggetto colonizzato, non potrà mai raggiungere la “somiglianza” con la Piemontesa, come conseguenza perderàì il suo impiego e l'alcol diventerà la sua unica consolazione.
concept of heterogeneity must be incorporated into informal economy analysis. The paper also advances the postulation that the Edward Webster Decent Work Deficit Index can be used as an appropriate methodology for monitoring progress towards achieving decent work standards at the micro level.
richiede di essere, è costretta a vivere nella condizione di mimetismo. Da soggetto colonizzato, Mimma dovrebbe acquisire una nuova identità come quella della Piemontesa, l'ostetrica venuta dal Piemonte per usurpare il suo posto di lavoro. Tuttavia, donna Mimma, come suggetto colonizzato, non potrà mai raggiungere la “somiglianza” con la Piemontesa, come conseguenza perderàì il suo impiego e l'alcol diventerà la sua unica consolazione.
concept of heterogeneity must be incorporated into informal economy analysis. The paper also advances the postulation that the Edward Webster Decent Work Deficit Index can be used as an appropriate methodology for monitoring progress towards achieving decent work standards at the micro level.
The only photo she keeps of herself is that on her identity card. Throughout her life, like many women and men of her generation and origin, my grandmother never had access to the possibility of representing her memories and affections through images and sounds. A gap reproduced through the historical process of racism, exclusion and erasure of our identities and collectivities, which affects habits, relationships, moral codes, aesthetics, ways of living.
South Asian vernacular cultures.
Pausapé, ambúri yepé maã yamaité arama: ti aikué yepé tetama ntu upé yepé nheenga. Tiramé yepé nheenga ntu yepé tetama supé. Nheenga ramé muíri amu nheenga ita uiku. Yepe tetama uriku muiri nheenga nhaãsé yepé nheenga uiku amu nheenga kuara upe. Panhe kuri tetama nheenga itá umuyereu arama.
Izindawo zemfundo ephakeme eNingizimu Afrika, zibukwa njengezithuthukisa ulimi olulodwa olugqugquzela izindlela nemfundo yabokufika abangabacindezeli, nendlela yabo yokuphila. ENingizimu Afrika entsha kubalulekile ukwethula izindlela zokufunda ezizovikela ziqede indlela yokufundisa ngolimi olungelona olwasekhaya. Kumbiko otholakele olanda ucubungulo ngabafundi befunda ngoShakespeare’s Julius Ceaser abafundi beNyuvesi yaseWitwatersrand eNingizimu Afrika kanye neNyuvesi yaseTexas e-Amelika.Locwaningo luveza ukuthi abafundi kundingeka ukuthi bahumushe izigaba zomdlalo ngolimi lwabo kanye nendlela yekuphila besebenzisa nomkhakha wokubonwayo (video media). Ucwaningo luthole ukuthi ukusetshenziswa kolimi lokuhunyushwa aluphumelelanga ukuphebeza nokugudluza imibono namandla ngolimi lwabacindezeli kodwa konke lokhu kuphumelelise ukudlondlobala ngolimi lwesiNgisi nenqubo nenqubo yezokuphila kwabo. Ucwaningo lukhuthaza ukundiswa kwezilimi ezinye nendlela yokufundisa “(un)unlearning” (Laininen, 2019) lokhu kukhuthaza abafundi ekubukeni ulimi lwabo nezindlela olusetshenziswa ngayo nokubapha amandlato ekuhumusheni kwalo ulimi nokuqukethwe yilo.
Dans cet article, qui s'inscrit dans ma praxis anticoloniale, je réfléchis sur mes expériences de la langue anglaise. Les résultats de mes recherches démontrent que bien que je sois consciente de l'effet colonisateur de la langue anglaise et des systèmes éducatifs de l'Occident, les contextes académiques et sociaux du Bangladesh qui valorisent les compétences en anglais et les diplômes d’enseignement supérieur en Amérique du Nord m'ont poussée à poursuivre une maîtrise (MA) et un doctorat (Ph.D.) au Canada. Bien que le Canada se présente comme un pays démocratique et multiculturel sur le plan racial, mes expériences dans les universités et les lieux de travail illustrent comment le manque de diversité linguistique et de tolérance conduit à la marginalisation d'autres locuteurs, tout en entretenant la différence sociale, l’inégalité, et causant le doute de soi, des traumatismes et des dommages. J'appelle les locuteurs anglophones et multilingues à travailler ensemble pour rompre la domination de la langue anglaise au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde.
সারাংশঃ এই লে খাটিতে আমি উপনি বে শবি র োধী চর্চার অংশ হি সে বে ইংরে জি ভাষা নি য়ে আমার অভি জ্ঞতা তুলে ধরে ছি । যদি ও আমি ইংরে জি ভাষা এবং পাশ্চাত্য শি ক্ষাপদ্ধতি র ঔপনি বে শি ক দি কগুল ো নি য়ে স োচ্চার, বাংলাদে শে র শি ক্ষাজগত ও আর্থ-সামাজি ক প্রে ক্ষি তে — যা কি না ইংরে জি ভাষাদক্ষতা এবং উত্তর আমে রি কায় ডি গ্রি অর্জনকে অধি ক মলূ্যায়ন করে — আমি এম এ এবং পি এইচ ডি ডি গ্রী অর্জন করতে কানাডায় অভি গমন করি । কানাডা
বহুসাংস্কৃতি ক দে শ হি সে বে পরি চি ত, কি ন্তু বি শ্ববি দ্যালয়ে এবং কর্মক্ষের্মক্ষেত্রে আমি দে খে ছি এখানে ভাষা বৈ চি ত্রতা চর্চার সংকট রয়ে ছে , যা সাধারণত অন্য ভাষাভাষীদে র প্রান্তি ক করে এবং তাদে র মাঝে হীনমন্যতা ও দ্বি ধা তৈ রি করে । তাই কানাডা এবং অন্যত্র ইংরে জি ভাষার আধি পত্য ও ভাষার ভি ত্তি তে তৈ রি সামাজি ক দরূত্ব, বি ভাজন, এবং বৈ ষম্য নি র্মূলর্মূ
করতে আমি ইংরে জি এবং অন্যান্য ভাষাভাষীদে র একসাথে কাজ করার আহ্বান জানাই।
মলূ শব্দ: ইংরে জি ভাষা, ঔপনি বে শি কীকরণ, ভ োগান্তি , আত্মজীবনী, উপনি বে শবি র োধী চর্চা
Decolonial Subversions è una piattaforma per la diffusione di perspettive decoloniali tramitel’implementazione di un modello di pubblicazione che sovverte le attuali pratiche diproduzione, legittimazione e diffusione della conoscenza—sia all’interno che all’esternodell’ambito accademico. Per raggiungere questo obbiettivo, Decolonial Subversionsabbandona standard di comunicazione tradizionali (che privilegiano l'inglese come lingua, iltesto come formato e l'intelletto come luogo del sapere) a favore di un modello dipubblicazione multilinguistico e multimodale. Questo si basa sulla convinzione che laviolenza epistemica si protrae linguisticamente in vari modi, come ad esempio quandoconoscenze sensoriali e multidimensionali vengono convertite in articoli accademici rigidi eunidimensionali. Autorə la cui prima lingua non é inglese sono spesso forzatə a scrivere ininglese per poter raggiungere un pubblico più ampio e per far sì che la loro conoscenzavenga considerata valida e accessibile. Per contrastare questa dinamica, Decolonial Subversions permette ad autorə di inviare i loro manoscritti nella loro prima lingua—o nellalingua in cui si trovano maggiormente a proprio agio—in aggiunta ad una versione ininglese, che possono produrre con il supporto di traduttorə, assistantə o co-autorə; per lostesso fine, Decolonial Subversions accetta anche contribuzioni audio e visive. Questa strategia ha lo scopo di minimizzare la violenza epistemica che viene inflitta tramite prerequisitilinguistici, mantenere le sfumature del testo originale, e garantire che il lavoro possainformare culture e pensieri anglofoni. In questo articolo illustriamo in dettaglio questoapproccio, come autorə hanno interagito con l’opzione multilinguistica che offriamo, edalcune delle difficoltà che abbiamo incontrato nel promuovere un modello di pubblicazione multilinguistico. Questo articolo presenta una prospettiva dal punto di vista editoriale, in modo da complementare la crescente diffusione di articoli multilinguistici che invece riflettono i punti di vista di autorə.
This series aims to subvert on-going totalitarian practices and polarisation among the public before it is too late. Relying ideally on a Socratic – dialogical and exploratory – approach we aim to reinvigorate open, frank and uncensored thinking and talk around COVID-19 and its consequences. We will hold a series of conversations with critical thinkers around the world, which will be recorded and released on the official YouTube channel of Decolonial Subversions (forthcoming) and will be disseminated on Academia.edu and Twitter.
表方式，以扭转不平等的机会和教育成果。本期特刊旨在探讨在不同的地缘政治背景中语言多
样性在大学中的作用，目的是完善当前对如何将多语言实践作为去殖民化实践工具的理解。我
们特刊在寻求用一系列不同的语言、呈现模式、格式和背景的内容贡献，以对有关语言多样性
在大学中的作用提供新的和代表性不足部分的观点。