The coloniality of power (Aníbal Quijano, 2000) describes the colonial legacies in structures of power, control and in systems of knowledge which identifies present day institutional, social and cultural power relations as originating from structures and cultures implemented during the colonial period.
Universities were not only funded by the colonial profits, but played an important role in the colonisation of other societies by providing the human resources to support the colonial project. These universities, de Sousa Santos (2020) explains, were not interested in indigenous knowledge but rather in supporting ‘epistemologies of the North’, or the ‘knowledge of the winners’ based on five main ‘mono-cultures’. These include the mono-culture of:
1. knowledge itself (exclusive focus on Western science, theology and philosophy);
2. the naturalisation of differences between humans and nature, between the so-called ‘races’, between sexes, etc.;
3. linear universal time e.g. from underdeveloped to developed, from savage to civilised, based on Western ideas of 'progress’ or ‘development’;
4. scale - the universal nature of (Western) knowledge, independent of context;
5. the monopoly of productivity (capitalist mode of production).
Attempts to reclaim the identity of formerly colonised peoples still struggle against the vestiges of coloniality such knowledge hierarchies, political structures and processes and economic dependency (University of Bristol, 2025)
Decolonising education and knowledge is a process which first has to acknowledge the ways colonialism has shaped learning and knowledge before taking steps to challenge and change its legacy of racism and injustice. It means opening up to knowledge systems from outside of the white male-dominated Western-centred world, which have been ignored for too long, challenging biases and having uncomfortable conversations about where knowledge comes from and how it is viewed, shared and taught to ensure that it includes the perspectives of the once colonized or enslaved peoples and cultures into programs. It should be seen as an ongoing process of thought change rather than a one-off activity.
Decolonising education and knowledge involves:
While acknowledging the colonial past, we need to be aware of new forms of colonialism emerging over the last few decades, especially after Word War II, as award winning journalist Naomi Klein explains in her book The Shock Doctrine. She argues that corporations have been allowed to take control of much or all government functions in states where disasters (wars, coups, natural) are exploited, and sometimes caused, by foreign political figures and corporations in order to impose unpopular neoliberal policies promoted by Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics. This process in all cases happens while the local population is still in shock and, inevitably, by stifling democracy and dissent, almost always through violent means.
Decolonising Institutional Structures and Processes
Policies and practices unaligned to decolonial principles limit the effect of any decolonising initiatives (Tuitt, 2016). Regular policy, practices and governance assessment is needed to ensure they are inclusive at all institutional levels. Ensuring diverse representation at all levels, including decision making, has to go hand in hand with other actions.
According to de Sousa Santos (2020), colonialism is only one matrix of contemporary society and that the other two are capitalism and patriarchy. He argues that we cannot confront one without confronting the other two, therefore we decolonise to the extend that we de-commodify and de-patriarchalize universities.
An example is academic promotion based on publishing in high impact journals. DORA - the Declaration on Research Assessment recognises the need to improve the ways in which researchers and the outputs of scholarly research are evaluated. There are three main themes are:
1. Eliminate the use of journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, in funding, appointment and promotion considerations.
2. Assess research on its own merits rather than on the basis of the journal in which it is published
3. Capitalise on opportunities provided by online publications e.g. relaxing unnecessary limits on word counts, figures, references and exploring new indicators of significance and impact (DORA, 2013)
By decolonising the curriculum, students:
To diversify the curriculum and pedagogy is to challenge power relations and to reflect about the content of your modules and how they are delivered. "Diverse” curriculum may look very different in Medicine, Physics and English, and it is only you as the expert in the field who has the ultimate power to change or leave content as it is. It is not about removing white male authors from the reading list, but about creating a genuine interest in the forces of racism and colonialism and their impact in the present and the way education is delivered.
Decolonising education and knowledge starts with decolonising your research, "rethinking the hierarchy of knowledge production and dissemination and the politics of North-South research collaborations" (Tamimi et al., 2023). Decolonising your literature search is therefore vital in order to enable you to include a variety of global voices both in the curriculum - what we teach, including your reading lists, and pedagogy - how we teach, therefore knowledge of where to find relevant literature, how to search databases and other online resources efficiently is vital. The library liaison librarian team is here to support academics by teaching Advanced Literature Searching using academic databases, Google Scholar Searching and Advanced Internet Searching and being mindful of the use of Generative AI (which can lead to further biases). If you have never had formal training in one or more of the above from a librarian, regardless of how long you have worked in academia, our team is there to help you. Please contact your Liaison Librarian if you would like a training session.
Challenges and considerations
Some of the information in this guide was adapted from Decolonising the Curriculum by Dr Monica Chavez Munoz using the references below and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. 
Arao, B., & Clemens, K. (2013). From safe spaces to brave spaces. The Art of Effective Facilitation: Reflections from Social Justice Educators, pp. 135-150.
Canagarajah, A. S. (2002). A Geopolitics of Academic Writing. University of Pittsburgh Press.
Lomax, N., Wohland, P., Rees, P., & Norman, P. (2019). The impacts of international migration on the UK’s ethnic populations. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1-23.
Rettová, A. (20017). Decolonization through language. LTC: Learning and Teaching Conference 10 May 2017. Last accessed 24 June 2020.
Rollock, N. and Gillborn, D. (2011) Critical Race Theory (CRT), British Educational Research Association online resource. Last accessed 24 June 2020.
SOAS University of London. Learning and Teaching Toolkit for Programme and Module Convenors. Last accessed 24 June 2020.
Tamimi, N., Khalawi, H., Jallow, M.A., Valencia, O.G.T. and Jumbo, E. (2024) 'Towards decolonising higher education: a case study from a UK university', Higher Education, 88(3), pp. 815-837. Available at: 10.1007/s10734-023-01144-3.
Tuitt, F. (2016). Making excellence inclusive in challenging times. Liberal Education, 102(2), 64–68.