The voice(s) of reason: conceptual challenges for the decolonization of knowledge in global higher education

ABSTRACT

Despite the ongoing ‘globalization’ of higher education, the curricula of most contemporary universities continue to be based upon epistemological assumptions deeply rooted in the Western philosophical tradition. Critiques of this lingering hegemony are evident in the growing calls for the decolonization of knowledge to make way for indigenous and hitherto subjugated voices in the academy and beyond. Reason and rationality lay at the heart of knowledge formation, yet the precise role of reason in knowledge decolonization and curricular reform is poorly understood. This research addresses some conceptual challenges to better understand how reason may perpetuate hegemonic thinking, as well as open possibilities for the production of new, decolonized knowledge(s). Questioning the binary frame of universality and particularity, it is concluded that diverse forms of reason not only undergird rigorous systematic thinking as truth-seeking, but may also engender the way-finding and opening up of new knowledge(s) crucial to the decolonizing process.

KEYWORDS:

• Knowledge decolonization
• reason
• epistemology
• curriculum reform
• global higher education

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge and thank Amanda Bellenger, Head of the Research and Copyright team at Curtin University Library, for encouraging and supporting me in the writing of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).