Decolonising sociology: perspectives from two Zimbabwean universities

Abstract

The decolonisation of sociology continues to be characterised by debates on what it constitutes, in both theory and practice. While such debates are centred on a ‘radical decolonisation’, we argue that the decolonisation of sociological curricula is never final, but should be driven by and with ‘hybridised’ thinking on the knowledge which underpins the discipline. While the canonical thinking in sociology has come under serious critique, there ought to be ‘knowledge accommodation’ combining Eurocentric and localised thinking. We focus on the ways in which sociology and sociological theory in particular have been criticised for being Eurocentric and androcentric, and the debates about decolonising it. This article draws on ethnographic research with sociologists and sociology students based at two Zimbabwean universities, the University of Zimbabwe and Great Zimbabwe University. This contributes to a growing body of research on decoloniality, by focusing both on attempts by some Zimbabwean sociologists to decolonise and localise the discipline, and on the ways in which academics and students advance and resist this practice. We argue that the decolonisation of sociology curricula and pedagogy should embrace transmodernity, blended knowledge systems, and border thinking. Following this, we further argue that decolonising sociology is never final and that there ought to be a ‘hybridised sociology’, which accommodates both canonical thinking and localised knowledge of the discipline.

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