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Shafi, Adeela 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6265-5024
(2025)
Decolonising Knowledge: Start at the Beginning.
In:
Innovations in Decolonising the Curriculum: Multidisciplinary Perspectives.
Emerald Insight.
ISBN 978-1-83608-913-1
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16126 Shafi (2025) Ch.2 Decolonising Knowledge.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License All Rights Reserved. Download (278kB) | Preview |
Abstract
This chapter interrogates the colonial underpinnings of knowledge generation, with particular attention to the entrenched inequities within higher education institutions. It highlights how Western Eurocentric paradigms dominate academic discourse, sidelining contributions from the global South and other historically marginalised regions. This dominance is reflected in curricula, research methodologies and structural powers inherent in research funding and publication, which fail to accommodate diverse epistemologies. This chapter examines three interconnected areas: decolonising knowledge to confront epistemic injustices, decolonising research methodologies to embrace culturally situated and contextually appropriate approaches and addressing structural power within colonial hierarchies in research funding and publication systems. These issues are deeply rooted in structural inequalities that privilege scholars and institutions from the global North, perpetuating hegemonic perspectives and marginalising alternative knowledges. By drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, this chapter calls on universities to critically reflect on their roles as custodians of knowledge. It advocates for a reorientation of curricula, the adoption of inclusive research practices and the dismantling of systemic biases in funding and publishing processes. Higher education institutions are positioned as key agents in fostering epistemic equity and amplifying the voices of diverse communities. This chapter argues that such transformative efforts are essential to challenge entrenched hierarchies and create a more inclusive and pluralistic academic landscape.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | L Education > L Education (General) |
| Divisions: | Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education, Health and Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Charlotte Crutchlow |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Apr 2026 10:29 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Apr 2026 12:45 |
| URI: | https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/16126 |
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