Teaching as resistance: towards an abolitionist and decolonial praxis in university education

• In Event: Praxis and Pedagogies of Liberation: Resistance and Re-Existence

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that as universities in the Global North remain embedded in structures of racial capitalism (Gerrard et al., 2022) and reproduce colonial hierarchies and whiteness, any attempt to challenge these oppressive structures must be grounded in a decolonial abolitionist praxis. As the language of « decolonizing » university, as well as the language of intersectionality and antiracism have progressively been coopted by a lot of institutions themselves, in a liberal perspective of diversity, all these terms might have become purely performative (as Tuck and Yang 2012 remind us). In fact, they might have become purely nonperformative (Ahmed 2006) as this cooptation process and language simply allows institutions to continue business as usual while they talk about diversity; in other terms, this cooptation contributes to perpetuate whiteness. For years, we even have witnessed the language and institutional settings of equality, diversity and antiracism being used against those acting against racism and coloniality. This has been particularly blatant these last two years, as shown by the use of equality tools and offices to silence pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist protestors on US campuses (Fúnez-Flores, 2024; Rajagopal, 2024). In this context, any commitment to decolonize the university should tend to abolition (Abolitionist University Studies, 2023; Neal & Dunn, 2020; Love & Muhammad, 2020; Dunn et al., 2021): abolition of unjust and oppressive university structures, abolition of colonial curricula, and abolition of mainstream pedagogies implementing hierarchies. This paper draws on and honors the long history of resistance to the oppressive structures of knowledge, and calls for the dismantling of oppressive academic structures, colonial curriculum and hierarchical pedagogies. Through a focus on curriculum and pedagogy, I explore how teaching can contribute to the development of pockets of resistance inside the neoliberal university and to the broader reimagining of abolitionist futures in higher education. I reflect on some experiences, including curriculum transformation, student engagement practices, and pedagogical experiments in International Relations.

Author

• Leila Mouhib, Université Libre de Bruxelles