“A landmark in the process of decolonizing imperial Western knowledge.” – Walter Mignolo, Duke University
To people who have navigated and survived the violence of colonization, the term ‘research’ is conflated with European colonialism; the ways in which academic research has been implicated in the throes of imperialism remains a painful memory.
Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s seminal text explores intersections of imperialism and research – specifically, the ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as 'regimes of truth’. Concepts such as ‘discovery’ and ‘claiming’ are discussed and an argument presented that the decolonization of research methods will help to reclaim control over indigenous ways of knowing and being.
