Towards Unlearning Colonialism in Development Research and Practice

‘Towards unlearning colonialism in development research and practice - Decolonial Chats’ was a series of four workshops organised by the Centre for Global Development in June 2021, with the key support of the UK Development Studies Association (DSA). The series interrogated how coloniality, understood here as referring to “long-standing patterns of power that emerged as a result of colonialism, but that define culture, labour, intersubjective relations, and knowledge production well beyond the strict limits of colonial administrations” (Maldonado – Torres 2007: 243), is embedded within development research and practice and how global development can be a driver of contemporary global, racialised inequalities.

The workshop series was aimed at students, early-career researchers (ECRs) and development practitioners, recognising the fluid intersections that exist between development research and practice. The workshops have brought a decolonial approach to development into conversation with concerns about contemporary work, speaking to the challenges of approaching development studies through a decolonial lens as an increasingly precarious (and for some of us racialised) workforce within the neoliberal university. These trends are not restricted to the UK but are a feature of higher education and development practice more globally.

There is much discussion about how terms such as decolonial are mobilised (Saini & Begum 2020). We have used this as an opportunity to explore the historical and contemporary structures that reinforce coloniality within development studies, but also as an opportunity to start to think where we can act within the everyday interactions of doing development.

Recognising the fluidity, transitions and partnerships between development scholars and practitioners, this workshop series, whilst focused on research processes, will be relevant to those working in development practice. Greater engagement with (de)coloniality is an area of concern for those across the development community. The project-based nature of the workshop series, and the diverse backgrounds of the speakers from NGOs and universities in different parts of the world, encourages us to consider how coloniality is embedded in development studies and practice.

The aims of the workshop series were:

1. To explore how coloniality is manifested in development research and practice and how this can be decentred.
2. To learn about development knowledge that is traditionally marginalised through the dominance of ‘Western’ knowledge.
3. To think about how we can destabilise modes of research that perpetuate dominant forms of knowledge production, for example methodologies and dissemination practices.
4. To consider as ECRs and practitioners, with challenges of precarity and influence, how we can contribute to the co-creation of a development field that challenges patterns of coloniality.
5. To start to develop a network of ECRs and practitioners with an interest in decoloniality and development.

The Decolonial Chats series comprised four workshops:

• Latin American Decolonial Feminist Perspectives on Doing Transnational Research. Speakers: Juana Francis Bone (NGO Mujeres de Asfalto) and Dr Sofia Zaragocin (Universidad de San Francisco de Quito). Moderator: Dr Inge Boudewijn (Northumbria University). June 2, 2021.
• Coloniality and Ethics in Development Research: Whose Reality Counts? The case of Refugee Youth Volunteering Uganda (RYVU) Collaborative Research Project. Speaker: Dr Moses Okech (Uganda Martyrs University). Moderator: Dr Sarah Peck (Northumbria University). June 9, 2021.
• Coloniality, Extractivism, Solidarity and Stories of Resistance. Speaker: Dr Nnimmo Bassey (NGO Health of Mother Earth Foundation; NGO Environmental Rights Action - Friends of the Earth Nigeria). Moderator: Benita Siloko (Northumbria University). June 17, 2021.
• Research as Reciprocity and “Retorno”: How can Ethnography Strengthen Social Activism and Vice-Versa? Speakers: Roberto Gomes dos Santos (Coordination of the Popular Movements Central of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Dr Rolf Malungo de Souza (Universidade Federal Fluminense). Moderator: Bianca Fadel (Northumbria University). June 24, 2021.

During each workshop, the presentation of speakers was recorded and followed by an inviting space for questions & answers and also smaller group discussions (not recorded) to facilitate connections and deeper debates among participants and with the speakers. 

You can find out more about the series and access all the recordings of the four workshops by visiting the project's dedicated website (available in English, Portuguese and Spanish). 

The final report is also available here for download in English, Portuguese and Spanish. In case of any questions, please contact Dr Sarah Peck.