Conceptualising Decolonisation for Development (2024)

The word ‘decolonisation’ has undergone a revival in the last few years. Within international development this has happened during the period of a global pandemic which was marked on 25 May 2020, by the murder of George Floyd. This latter became an impetus for the global Black Lives Matter movement. The combination of the Movement and a pandemic sparked revived conversations about decolonisation in the field of international development, conversations that have been around for decades. 

Why, in the seven decades following the start of political decolonisation for the formerly colonised are these conversations still being held? And is the sectoral focus on localisation and locally-led development—a conversation that continues to be driven by organisations in the global north/minority world— sufficient to address the concerns of the global south/Majority World? These questions are embedded in power relations that are global. Whilst these power relations form the subject matter of this course, the objective is to enable the development of a common understanding between Majority and minority worlds, of this word that is used so loosely in international development, ‘decolonisation’. 

Only when we share a common understanding can we begin to collectively reimagine what development practice and outcomes can look like.

This course is useful for anyone seeking to understand de/colonisation and racial in/justice.