Critical Consciousness in Motion: Pakistani Women Scholars Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures for Decolonizing Education

• In Event: Feminist Critique, Praxis and Relationality in Education

Abstract

This paper examines the narratives of three Pakistani women scholars, including myself as a researcher participant, to explore how Critical Consciousness (CC) animates decolonizing education across transnational contexts. Using an interpretive, narrative inquiry design with collaborative autoethnographic elements, the study employs directed thematic analysis to trace cycles of awareness, analysis, and action. Findings show how independence is negotiated within patriarchal and colonial structures, how intersectionality reorders inequities across borders, and how praxis in media and classrooms amplifies marginalized voices. By centering a CC framework grounded in feminist of color and decolonial thought, the study contributes to the 2026 AERA theme of Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures, offering pathways for transforming oppressive knowledge systems in education.

Authors

• Tahreem Fatima, Miami University (OH)

• Moaaz Hamid, Indiana University