Decolonial Undergrounds: Subcultural Learning for Peace and Human Rights

• In Event: Advancing Peace and Justice Through Humanizing Processes in Education

Abstract

This paper frames informal and humanizing learning that occurs in minority-led punk rock and skateboarding subcultures as a form of decolonizing education. Decolonizing education refers to teaching and learning practices that undo the far-reaching effects of Euro-American imperialism and are integral to the pursuit of peace, human rights, and social justice. Examining the educative significance of subcultural texts (such as performances, songs, lyrics, art, and narratives), this paper shows how reparative forms of decolonizing education go beyond prescriptive and purpose-built learning environments and can take place in punk shows, skate parks, and in conversation with one’s community. Drawing from a transnational study that uplifts the contributions and stories of Indigenous punks and skaters from the Philippines, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and Turtle Island, this paper bridges decolonizing education, decolonial theory, informal learning, and subculture studies to show how divergent sociality can cultivate a collective sense of autonomy and responsibility that engenders healing. Utilizing the decolonizing methodologies of community research, story telling and the suppositionless Indigenous Philippine methodology of pakapa-kapa (feeling around in the dark), this study’s findings show how building cultures of peace and justice will require a full-scale reckoning with the ongoing historical, political, and psychic ravages of colonial conquest. Understanding the distinct and informal philosophical, pedagogical, and ontological features of minority-led subcultures might, in turn, help us create kinder and humanizing learning environments oriented towards peace, social justice, and human rights, everywhere.

Author

• Noah Romero, Hampshire College