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Global Challenges
Issue no. 10 | October 2021
Decolonisation:
A Past That Keeps Questioning Us
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Articles for this issue
Global Challenges
Issue no. 10 | October 2021
Decolonisation: A Past That Keeps Questioning Us

Today, we observe a renewed interest in the theme of decolonisation in three interrelated fields: in the academic world which opens new areas of research and teaching (e.g. decolonisation studies; decolonising the curriculum), in the practice of professionals and international actors who are revisiting their way of working, as well as in the vocabulary and activism of civil society targeting the remnants of colonial times such as street names, statues or museum objects. The renewed focus on decolonisation brings forth underlying issues such as the lingering of Eurocentrism, continued oppression of indigenous people, cultural relativism, the ongoing materiality of colonialism, the guilt of the West or, more generally, “the darker side of Western modernity”. While decolonisation has had a lasting impact on the political scene (with the decolonisation movements of the 1960s) and theoretically in the realm of academia, it lags behind in practice as processes, mentalities and epistemes are still permeated by “coloniality”. The present issue puts therefore decolonisation into historical perspective and provides fresh analytical perspectives on its epistemologies and methodologies as well as its practical application and consequences in various fields.

This issue has been coproduced by the Graduate Institute’s Department of International History and Politics and the Research Office. It also includes contributions from other research centres and departments of the Institute.

Articles for this issue

Decolonisation:
A Past That Keeps Questioning Us
  • I
     
    Lisbon, Portugal - April 20, 2016: a fragment of mappa mundi as part of The Monument of the Discoveries which celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration)

    Decolonisation: The Many Facets of an Ongoing Struggle

    Reading time: 6 min

    By Grégoire Mallard,
    Director of Research and Professor of Anthropology and Sociology,
    Dominic Eggel,
    Research Adviser at the Research Office,
    and Marc Galvin,
    Executive Director of the Research Office,
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 1
     
    Old map of world hemispheres by Frederick de Wit, published In Amsterdam, 1668.

    Varieties of Decolonisation

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Gopalan Balachandran
    Professor of International History and Politics
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 2
     
    Wooden masks for sale in a shop in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

    Decolonisation: Too Simple a Term for a Complicated History

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Jean-François Bayart
    Professor of Anthropology and Sociology and Yves Oltramare Chair for Religion and Politics in the Contemporary World
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 3
     
    Map of the word made from different kinds of spices.

    Decolonisation and Regionalism

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Aidan Russell
    Associate Professor of International History and Politics
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 4
     
    Bristol, UK. Statue of Edward Colston with blindfold before it was taken down by protestors. 6 May 2020.

    Decolonising International Politics

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou
    Professor and Chair of the Department of International History and Politics
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

    Professor Mohamedou is the recipient of the 2021 Global South Distinguished Scholar Award of the International Studies Association (ISA).

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  • 5
     
    Rendering of planet Earth chained and locked with padlock as global lockdown metaphor.

    Decolonising the Global

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Carolyn Biltoft
    Associate Professor of International History and Politics
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 6
     
    The Hague, Netherlands. Logo of the bench of the International Court of Justice in the Peace Palace. 18 December 2019.

    Decolonisation and International Law

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Fuad Zarbiyev
    Associate Professor of International Law
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 7
     
    Rainbow coloured flag and LGBT community demonstration with hearts.

    Gender and Decolonisation

    Reading time: 6 min

    By Nicole Bourbonnais
    Associate Professor of International History and Politics and Co-director of the Gender Centre
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 8
     
    Stamp printed in the Guinea-Bissau, 1985.

    Decolonisation and Humanitarianism

    Reading time: 4 min

    By Davide Rodogno
    Professor of International History and Politics
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 9
     
    Incomplete Earth globe puzzle near medical face masks and airplane model on wooden background.

    Decolonisation and Global Health

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Tammam Aloudat, Managing Director, Dena Arjan Kirpalani, Research Assistant, and Meg Davis, Senior Researcher, Global Health Centre
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • 10
     
    African American academic students at Roger Williams University in Nashville, Tennessee, ca. 1899.

    Decolonising Education

    Reading time: 4 min

    By Moira V. Faul, Executive Director of NORRAG, an Associated Programme of The Graduate Institute, Geneva, and Oakleigh Welply, Associate Professor in the School of Education, University of Durham

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  • 11
     
    Concept of social networking service.

    Three Decolonial Questionings of the Digital

    Reading time: 5 min

    By Anna Leander
    Professor of International Relations/Political Science
    The Graduate Institute, Geneva

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  • O
     

    Selected Publications from the Graduate Institute about Colonisation and Decolonisation

    Reading time: 4 min

    Marc Galvin

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Other Issues
Issue no. 2 | September 2017
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Democracy at Risk
Global Challenges
Issue no. 2 | September 2017
Democracy at Risk

While the 20th century has been characterised by the generalisation of democratisation processes, the 21st century seems to have started with the reverse trend. An authoritarian-populist nexus is threatening liberal democracy on a global scale, including in its American and European heartlands. Charismatic leaders – thriving on electoral majorities and popular referenda – methodically undermine the rule of law and constitutional safeguards in order to consolidate their own power basis. Coupling inflammatory rhetoric with modern communication technologies, they short-circuit traditional elites and refuse to abide by international norms. Agitating contemporary scourges such as insecurity, loss of identity, mass migration and corrupt elites, they put in place new laws and mechanisms to harness civil society and political opponents. In order to better understand the novelty, permanence and global reach of “illiberal democracy”, this second issue of Global Challenges proposes seven case studies (Russia, Hungary, Turkey, the Middle East, Uganda, Venezuela and the United States) complemented by a series of expert interviews, maps and infographics.