Theorizing under the shadow of transnational whiteness: the politics of curriculum knowledge in South Korea

This study offers a transnational critique of curriculum studies in South Korea by interrogating the persistence of Western-centric epistemes through the lens of transnational whiteness. Despite growing decolonial critiques, the underlying epistemic order of the field in Korea remains largely tethered to Global North theoretical movements as the sole arbiter of legitimacy. Moving beyond nationally bounded frameworks, this study conceptualises whiteness not as a biological trait but as a malleable, onto-epistemological architecture that organises power and intelligence across global contexts. Through an epistemic cartography, the paper traces how Korean curriculum studies has historically evolved from post-liberation modernization to contemporary post-reconceptualist discourses, revealing a consistent enactment of whiteness where theoretical sophistication is equated with white Western ideas. It argues that even critical next-moment theories can inadvertently function as refined modes of catching up, reinforcing racialised epistemic hierarchies. To operationalise a de-whitening of the field, the study proposes a self-reflexive methodology that scrutinises the researcher’s own ways of being, knowing, and doing and citational practices. Ultimately, it calls for itinerant, pluralistic curriculum inquiry that dismantles the shadow of whitened normalcy to foster social and cognitive justice in non-Western contexts.