Can Higher Education Be Decolonised?

This open access book critically reflects on what it has meant to embark on a process of decolonising higher education at a Global North institution – namely the University of Bristol - and the real-world possibilities for realising change from this vantage point.

The book brings together a diverse team of writers representing academic staff, students and professional services staff engaged in decolonising activities at the University of Bristol. The chapters have been co-created and this process itself has generated a series of critical conversations that have highlighted tensions and contradictions involved in attempting to decolonise within the university. Through this process, the team have critiqued the concepts of “our university” and “our curriculum” and they argue that understanding these tensions and contradictions is crucial if we are to understand decolonisation as an active process. Each chapter offers examples of practice from the university, the city of Bristol and elsewhere, and implications are drawn that are of relevance for activists around the world who are engaged in decolonising their institutions.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The University of Bristol.

The Bristol University Decolonial Collective (BUDC) brings together:

Alvin Birdi is Associate Pro Vice Chancellor (Education Innovation and Enhancement) and Professor of Economics Education at the University of Bristol, UK.

Eyob Balcha Gebremariam is a Research Associate in the Perivoli Africa Research Centre at the University of Bristol, UK and a visiting fellow at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Folúke Adébísí is a Professor at the Law School, University of Bristol, UK.

Lara Mosunmola Lalemi is Founder & CEO of Creative Tuition Collective, a recent PhD graduate from the School of Chemistry and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the University of Bristol, UK.

Leon Tikly is Professor in Education at the University of Bristol, UK and UNESCO Chair in Transforming Knowledge and Research for Just and Sustainable Futures.

Madhu Krishnan is Professor of African, World and Comparative Literatures at the University of Bristol, UK.

Marie-Annick Gournet is Associate Professor in Lifelong Learning and Inclusive Pedagogy at the University of Bristol, UK.

Mark Jackson is Associate Professor in Human Geography at the University of Bristol, UK.

Sharon Walker is Lecturer in Education (Racial Justice and Education) and co-Director of the Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education at the University of Bristol, UK.

Steve Eichhorn is Chair in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Bristol, UK.