Intellectual decolonisation and the danger of epistemic closure

The Need for a Critical Decolonial Theory

Bibliographic Data

ID3668580
AuthorsHelen-Mary Cawood (0000-0003-3311-9166, University of the Free State, corresponding author), Mark Jacob Amiradakis (0000-0002-0009-2879, University of the Free State)
Year2023
Volume49
Issue3
Pages518-533
Publication date2023-09-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Dynamics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0253-3952 • E-ISSN: 1940-7874
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02533952.2023.2267772
OpenAlexW4387697193
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited12

This paper draws from the paradigm of Critical Theory (CT) and Decolonial Theory to engage in an introductory discussion on the need for a new methodological paradigm, namely a Critical Decolonial Theory. This is put forward in order to both argue for the imperative of introducing multiple narratives to the philosophical practice of contemporary social critique in South Africa, as well as to provide a cautionary note relating to how the decolonisation narrative itself could become a determinative ideology if it engages in what Lewis Gordon terms “epistemic closure.” While operating from within the framework and ideals of traditional CT and Amy Allen’s subsequent contribution to decolonising CT, we draw specifically from black practitioners of this critical philosophical tradition, namely Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Frantz Fanon, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Paulin Hountondji, and Achille Mbembe, in order to localise and ground our discussion of the need to problematise (i.e., consider both vindicatory and subversive aspects of) the decolonisation project

Aesthetics · Critical theory · Decolonization · Epistemology · Existentialism · Ideology · Linguistics · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African cultural and philosophical studies · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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