Beyond the debate: decolonisation, decoloniality and the reframing of development in Africa

ABSTRACTThe paper argues that the current quest for decolonisation and decoloniality struggles are primarily embodiments of disenchantment with the development doldrums in the continent after decades of political independence. While both decolonisation and decoloniality sound like intellectual pursuits concerned with knowledge production, they are in essence efforts towards recasting and rebooting development in the continent. Despite ingrained differences both decolonisation and decoloniality, aspire towards unmasking the futility and incompleteness of Euro-American epistemological traditions and worldviews. Despite differences in the usage of concepts, both decolonisation and decoloniality reframe the notion of ‘delinking’ made popular by Samir Amin. In effect, Amin may rightly be conceived as a precursor of the decolonisation struggle. Apart from agitating for a pluriversality of epistemic traditions and ‘ways of knowing’, both decolonisation and decoloniality seek to reposition Africa in global relations of power and politics and from the above engender sustainable development. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Given the vastness of his writings and expansive but articulate span of his ideas I am only going to systematically excerpt those aspects of his writings with direct bearing on the theme of this paper and the discussion pursued thus far. In other words, this is neither a comprehensive rehash nor a thorough-going evaluation or critique of Amin. I would leave such chores to those who are better equipped for them.