Unsettling the Canon: Decolonisation In Practice

This session explores the practical dimensions of decolonisation and critically assesses the consequences when such initiatives are unsuccessful.

The session invites contributions that move beyond critique to offer concrete, reflexive accounts of decolonisation as experienced, attempted, or contested within sociology classrooms. Relevant topics include the selection and justification of texts, authors, and theoretical frameworks in decolonising curricula; the incorporation, negotiation, or resistance to indigenous and non-Western knowledge traditions within institutional constraints; the nature of sociological literacy when taught through decolonial and pluriversal frameworks; and the ways in which students engage with, transform, or reject decolonial pedagogies across diverse national contexts. Accounts of failed, partial, and contested decolonisation efforts are explicitly encouraged, alongside those documenting successful initiatives. These inquiries address a broader disciplinary question: whether institutional forms of sociology, such as textbooks, syllabi, lectures, and assessments, function as colonial technologies that cannot be transformed solely through decolonial content.

While issues concerning vernacular language and sociological methodology are addressed in other forums, this session focuses specifically on the sociology classroom as a site of epistemic struggle. Comparative contributions from diverse geographic contexts are particularly welcome.