Anti-Colonialism and Education : The Politics of Resistance

There is a rich intellectual history to the development of anti-colonial thought and practice. In discussing the politics of knowledge production, this collection borrows from and builds upon this intellectual traditional to offer understandings of the macro-political processes and structures of education delivery (e.g., social organization of knowledge, culture, pedagogy and resistant politics). The contributors raise key issues regarding the contestation of knowledge, as well as the role of cultural and social values in understanding the way power shapes everyday relations of politics and subjectivity. In reframing anti-colonial thought and practice, this book reclaims the power of critical, oppositional discourse and theory for educational transformation. Anti-Colonialism and Education: The Politics of Resistance, includes some the most current theorizing around anti-colonial practice, written specifically for this collection. Each of the essays extends the terrain of the discussion, of what constitutes anti-colonialism. Among the many discursive highlights is the interrogation of the politics of embodied knowing, the theoretical distinctions and connections between anti-colonial thought and post-colonial theory, and the identification of the particular lessons of anti-colonial theory for critical educational practice. Essays explore such key issues as the challenge of articulating anti-colonial thought as an epistemology of the colonized, anchored in the indigenous sense of collective and common colonial consciousness; the conceptualization of power configurations embedded in ideas, cultures and histories of marginalized communities; the understanding of indigeneity as pedagogical practice; and the pursuit of agency, resistance and subjective politics through anti-colonial learning. The book is relevant for students, teachers, community/social workers and field practitioners interested in pursuit of education for social transformation. It is a must read for students of sociology, sociology of education, anthropology, political science and history. This book provides new ways to think about education as an anti-colonial project. The essays offer powerful insights into the politics of colonialism, anti-colonialism as they are contested in education and society. LINDA SMITH, University of Auckland, New Zealand Every student, parent, and educator today has been marinated in Eurocentric colonial thought and ideologies that continue to create multiple forms of domination and oppression. The challenge of comprehending and remedying colonialism and racism and their destructive practices is the penetrating analysis of leading antiracist educator George Dei, his co-editor, Arlo Kempf, and other contributors to this excellent collection. These authors offer in Anti-Colonialism and Education: The Politics of Resistance a brilliant contribution for resisting the ever-present overarching force and practice in everyone's daily life and for inspiring multiple sites of anti-colonial practice to create a more enriched society. MARIE BATTISTE, Mi'kmaw educator and Director, Aboriginal Education Research Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Canada.