Decolonising a higher education system which has never been colonised’

Abstract

The notion of decolonisation implies the existence of a territory, entity, structure, or system which has previously been colonised by exogenous forces and thus needs to be liberated. In most African countries, the discourses of decolonisation of higher education emanate from the shared experience of imposed European colonisation that perpetuated epistemic violence on African indigenous knowledge systems. Thus, a lived experience of colonialism became a foundation for the decolonisation debates imagining and aspiring to alternative and inclusive futures. This point of departure yet makes the discussion of decolonisation as the subject of only those who have had colonial experiences – an event of interruption of a specific process considered colonial and therefore, undesirable. This approach conceptualises decolonisation in a narrow sense as a linear process with a distinct historical beginning, which is colonial, and an envisaged liberating decolonial end. This article critically challenges this dominant narrative of decolonisation and reconceptualises it as a complex, dynamic, and lifelong process of re-centring. It argues that decolonisation, as a concept in higher education, goes beyond a pre-existing colonial foundation. Taking the context of Ethiopia, a country that remained independent during the European colonisation of Africa, this article aims at reconceptualising the notion of decolonisation of higher education in a space that has never been colonised. The article discusses epistemological challenges of the Ethiopian higher education system and provides a proactive alternative future departing from monolithic epistemic tradition to a pluralistic approach that accommodates diverse structures of knowledge.

Keywords:

• Decolonisation
• higher education
• Ethiopia
• indigenous knowledge systems
• pluralistic approach
• re-centring

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis

Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Higher Education Studies at the University of Johannesburg. He has been researching higher education issues in Africa since 2006. He did his Ph.D. at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, where he has also been working as a post-doctoral researcher between 2015 and 2018. His research focuses on various issues of higher education processes in Africa. He did his joint Master's Degree in Higher Education Studies at Oslo University in Norway, Tampere University in Finland and Aveiro University in Portugal. He is certified in two advanced-level research training in higher education in the Netherlands at the Centre for Institutional Cooperation (ICIS) Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam; and training on Leadership and Management of Higher Education Institutions in Maastricht School of Management. Before his Ph.D., he has been working as Head of Quality Assurance Office, Department Head and team leader at Mekelle University, Ethiopia. He has published several articles, book chapters, and books on higher education issues particularly, theories of regionalization and internationalization, student mobility, cost-sharing, and harmonization of higher education systems in Africa.