Decolonial thought isn’t limited to academic theory. It’s also intimately related to praxis, which means it's born in concrete struggles. What does it mean to you? Why do we need to take decolonial thought & praxis seriously? How does it inform your work?
Thanks for raising this question. We need to take both seriously because if we only intellectualize the discussion, we disregard the every day plights Queer & BIPOC individuals face, often times dehumanizing and risking their lives. It's important to bring theory to ground our why, and recognize praxis to inform our how. I read and learn from theorists and practitioners to learn how I can then take action in my day to day classroom as well as with adult colleagues, and family members. It informs my work in how to humanize people of the global majority so that the next generation gets to breathe a little easier.
“And so, we can see that the Slave is a person who has been Objectified—or, in other words, commodified; Man as Slave, and Woman as Wife. The Slave is someone who is assessed and possessed for their Value as an Object—for their ability to provide Labor and Utility, and for the Capital which their subjugated Agency can be made to produce for their Master.
Thus we see that, in reality, human Agency does not primarily direct itself toward its relationship to a Metaphysical Objectivity. Human freedom-of-action, after all, is not something which can be confirmed as being either permitted or denied by gods, or fate, or the simple nature of reality itself. Instead, Agency is something which exists primarily in relation to a Social Objectivity; after all, it’s a freedom which we can empirically observe as being either permitted or denied by Others—by Man and Masters and other people, and by a world of Social Objectivity.”
I think that it's important to understand the undercurrents of how political acts enable the perpetuation of colonial values, because ultimately if we restrict our thinking to the realm of ivory tower academic theory then it's easy to use any justification to support any argument.
Theoretical argumentation can only take you so far, and with enough rhetorical skill you can manipulate the narrative which motivates any political action and transform it into something which supports any moral or philosophical position. So, I think that the focus of discussion should always be on the real-world effects of our actions as goals in themselves, as opposed to on the "principle of things."
The purpose of theory in this context is to identify and connect colonial values to the systems that materially support their perpetuation. It can be tricky to cut through ideology and moral principles in the pursuit of practical change.
I pivot my work on promoting local indigenous knowledge systems, including cultures, values and norms and structures. In the same vein, l seek to challenge anything that represents and sustains coloniality, including the education curricula and the practice of "development work"
Thanks for raising this question. We need to take both seriously because if we only intellectualize the discussion, we disregard the every day plights Queer & BIPOC individuals face, often times dehumanizing and risking their lives. It's important to bring theory to ground our why, and recognize praxis to inform our how. I read and learn from theorists and practitioners to learn how I can then take action in my day to day classroom as well as with adult colleagues, and family members. It informs my work in how to humanize people of the global majority so that the next generation gets to breathe a little easier.
“And so, we can see that the Slave is a person who has been Objectified—or, in other words, commodified; Man as Slave, and Woman as Wife. The Slave is someone who is assessed and possessed for their Value as an Object—for their ability to provide Labor and Utility, and for the Capital which their subjugated Agency can be made to produce for their Master.
Thus we see that, in reality, human Agency does not primarily direct itself toward its relationship to a Metaphysical Objectivity. Human freedom-of-action, after all, is not something which can be confirmed as being either permitted or denied by gods, or fate, or the simple nature of reality itself. Instead, Agency is something which exists primarily in relation to a Social Objectivity; after all, it’s a freedom which we can empirically observe as being either permitted or denied by Others—by Man and Masters and other people, and by a world of Social Objectivity.”
https://themodernexistentialist.substack.com/p/slavery-oppression-and-the-economy?s=w
I think that it's important to understand the undercurrents of how political acts enable the perpetuation of colonial values, because ultimately if we restrict our thinking to the realm of ivory tower academic theory then it's easy to use any justification to support any argument.
Theoretical argumentation can only take you so far, and with enough rhetorical skill you can manipulate the narrative which motivates any political action and transform it into something which supports any moral or philosophical position. So, I think that the focus of discussion should always be on the real-world effects of our actions as goals in themselves, as opposed to on the "principle of things."
The purpose of theory in this context is to identify and connect colonial values to the systems that materially support their perpetuation. It can be tricky to cut through ideology and moral principles in the pursuit of practical change.
I pivot my work on promoting local indigenous knowledge systems, including cultures, values and norms and structures. In the same vein, l seek to challenge anything that represents and sustains coloniality, including the education curricula and the practice of "development work"