Thinkers of the Global South

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The term “Global South” captures both a political collectivity and ideological formulation that arises from an entire history of colonialism and neo-imperialism which led to a range of differential inequalities of power along racial, ethnic, gender, class, and spatial lines. In this course, we will explore the historical and theoretical frameworks of emancipatory decolonial thinking from multiple standpoints and continuing examples of praxis across the globe. We will embark on close reading of key texts by prominent intellectuals of the Global South from intersecting histories and lived experiences of anticolonialism, decolonization, and post coloniality. What brings these thinkers together is a radical call for dismantling all forms of Eurocentric dominance in politics, philosophy, culture, history, arts, and education, while envisioning how “freedom” with respect to thinking, being, knowing, understanding and living might look like. In light of this intellectual framing, the course will engage with the following questions: What does it mean to ‘decolonize’ now and here? How is decoloniality constructed in and through praxis? What are some key insights and strategies of decolonial thinking? How do we decolonize knowledge as well as the methodologies and practices by which it is produced and disseminated?