On the Incoherence of “Decolonizing” the Academy

“Ideological pressure and political conformity in the workplace, professional organizations, industry, and public institutional life are so pervasive that identity politics has all but ruined social tolerance, meritocracy, and the pursuit of excellence.”

“Colonialism” has become a dirty word. It signifies all that is bad, despite imperialism no longer existing as it once did. The decline of imperialism is—no doubt—a good thing when it comes to the development of our shared humanity. However, Western civilization, despite its transgressions, brought the world invaluable fruits from the printing press to medical breakthroughs to the masterpieces of the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution. Although we should never forget lessons from our sordid past, we should also be mindful of the values and benefits of the present. Unfortunately, anything deemed “Eurocentric” or “white” is increasingly being vilified in the academy and society at large, and extreme measures are being taken to counteract these alleged ills.

Along with the call to “decolonize the curriculum” in university education, we see illiberalism on campus, the cancelation of professors, institutional capture, and an assault on free speech and academic liberty by silencing debate. The politicization of race, diversity, and gender is not only weaponized but is encouraged by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) bureaucrats.

A goal of decoloniality is to problematize, disrupt, deconstruct, fracture, and redefine social norms in the service of liberating society from Western norms and values. Given that many decolonizing efforts challenge logocentrism, science, objectivity, and reason itself, this postmodern project sets out for itself an impossible task. To “decolonize” social reality completely would mean to purge it from its historical facticity and material locality, which is unimaginable. Should we stop speaking and writing in English? Should all Americans, Canadians, and Brits be required to quit their jobs, move, and give up their homes and land to descendants of Indigenous peoples?

We cannot escape our thrownness into history. Given that all cultures and identities have historically infiltrated geopolitical space and been integrated into the social fabric through contemporary globalization, any attempt to negate or displace our archaic primacy in the process of civilization is a futile endeavor that is logically impossible to achieve. One can no more decolonize history and the Western world than one can deconstruct the laws of physics through some fanciful language game.