Decolonial Keywords In Times of Polycrisis

The contemporary global landscape is increasingly defined by a "polycrisis," where intersecting ecological, economic, geopolitical, and social upheavals demand new analytical frameworks. This session is directly inspired by the seminal work of Raymond Williams (1985). Williams argued that significant social and historical processes occur within language itself (Williams 1985:25). He viewed keywords not as static definitions but as the record of an inquiry into a shared vocabulary used to discuss the central processes of our common life (Williams 1985:15).

While Williams focused primarily on the English language, he acknowledged that comparative analysis across different languages is "crucially important" for intellectual clarity (Williams 1985:21). This session extends that invitation to the Global South. We invite studies that map and analyze decolonial keywords emerging from non-Western contexts. Such vocabularies often embody "different experiences and readings of experience" that are frequently marginalized or excluded by dominant academic canons (Williams 1985:30).

By examining keywords from the Global South, participants will demonstrate how language serves as an active site of struggle and a tool for social transformation. These decolonial vocabularies provide essential insights into the polycrisis, offering ways to decenter traditional Western social sciences. We welcome studies that utilize diverse methodologies to explore how these "binding words" generate folk knowledge and facilitate the decolonization of social thought in an era of global instability.

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References

Williams, Raymond. 1985. Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Revised edition. New York: Oxford University Press.