Proceedings of The 5th International Academic Conference on Humanities and Social Sciences
Year: 2021
DOI:
An overview onto the Decolonisation of Political Science in the 21st Century
Silethemba Medelline Guta
ABSTRACT:
The paper reviews the ongoing discussion and debate on decolonizing political science and to establish how political science can be decolonized. The hegemony within the practice is argued to produce a society rigged with inequalities of different levels. It is highlighted that the impact of historical writers of political thought and theory on present day society cannot be underestimated. Education informs thought and behavior thus, the curricula is at the center of the decolonial debate so that many voices are heard and that ethnic diversity is embraced in the production of knowledge. Decolonising political science is not a once off project that can be done in a hurry but it is of significant importance for the epistemologies and ontologies that inform political science to be examined carefully. Decoloniality is the equalizer in the social justice theories however it is not openly discussed and very well understood. The paper also highlights the writers and scholars against the decolonial project and how their voices are important in the development of the political science decolonial agenda. Decolonising political science will give the balance and equilibrium needed to embrace other voices that have not been heard in the construction of political thought and practice in contemporary times.
Keywords: Curricula; Decoloniality; Political Thought; Social Justice.