Abstract:
The decolonisation of sociology continues to be characterised by
debates on what it constitutes, in both theory and practice. While
such debates are centred on a ‘radical decolonisation’, we argue that
the decolonisation of sociological curricula is never final, but should be
driven by and with ‘hybridised’ thinking on the knowledge which
underpins the discipline. While the canonical thinking in sociology
has come under serious critique, there ought to be ‘knowledge accom
modation’
combining Eurocentric and localised thinking. We focus on
the ways in which sociology and sociological theory in particular have
been criticised for being Eurocentric and androcentric, and the debates
about decolonising it. This article draws on ethnographic research with
sociologists and sociology students based at two Zimbabwean uni
versities,
the University of Zimbabwe and Great Zimbabwe University.
This contributes to a growing body of research on decoloniality, by
focusing both on attempts by some Zimbabwean sociologists to
decolonise and localise the discipline, and on the ways in which
academics and students advance and resist this practice. We argue
that the decolonisation of sociology curricula and pedagogy should
embrace transmodernity, blended knowledge systems, and border
thinking. Following this, we further argue that decolonising sociology
is never final and that there ought to be a ‘hybridised sociology’, which
accommodates
