Decolonising Economic Geography

Challenging Western paradigms of knowledge and knowledge construction does not imply rejecting them, rather, it means recognising that Western science is not the only way of knowing, and that there are different forms of knowledge that are valid for different purposes. Our work is to question what kind of knowledge we seek and for what purposes; for example, Western science has taken us to the moon, but it probably won’t solve the environmental crisis (de Sousa Santos, 2016).The question of decoloniality provides different avenues. First, making visible ‘other ways’ of knowing. It means opening up our curriculums and research to other bodies of knowledge and geographies embracing epistemic diversity. It also means recognising that knowledge (the one we absorb and reproduce) is constructed within a context and embedded in time and space, in specific cultures, ideologies and political views (geography matters). Finally, it also means engaging with authors, academics and activists beyond our current circles (Radcliffe and Radhuber, 2020). This will not only enrich our worldviews and theoretical contributions, it will also prevent us from appropriating knowledge and claiming novelty and ‘discovery’ over knowledge built by others (Tuhiwai Smith, 2021a). Second, it challenges the idea of totalism, that is, supporting, enforcing, and allowing the expression of one cultural, ethnic, social, or religious group to the exclusion of others. Totalism encourages assimilation, where members outside this dominant group may be expected to adopt its behaviours and practices (Mignolo, 2011; Walsh, 2018). In economic geography, this is best seen through the idea of modernity and the concepts of development and growth.