Description
In recent years, with the neoliberal university’s emphasis on ‘decolonising’ and ‘student experience’, there has been a push for 'inclusive education' in the UK (Morina, 2016). The concept of inclusive education is increasingly perceived as a critical approach towards pedagogical practices that subscribes to the idea of education as a liberatory practice (Freire, 1973; hooks, 1994; 2003) and is conflated with initiatives seeking to decolonise the university. The practice of 'inclusive education' has been increasingly co-opted to fit in with neo-liberal and capitalist structures present within higher education. In many contexts, the 'decolonial project' is still constrained by pre-existing norms and approaches which apply a colonial-capitalist lens to decolonising higher education. Therefore, the overall impact of these decolonial projects is highly debated, raising important questions about their effectiveness (Akhtar, 2022; Gopal, 2021). However, noting the ever-increasing list of such projects and our own participation and complicity, it becomes important to recognise the issues within such initiatives and co-create practices that contribute to the objectives of decolonising to some extent.
We employ a decolonial methodology and use our positionality as academics involved in different decolonising projects at four UK universities as a standpoint to examine such initiatives and the differentiated roles played by members. The theoretical and methodological approach for this paper includes a review of the literature focusing on the nexus between labour and identity within the neoliberal university which is then used to raise questions of accountability in spaces claiming to be progressive and radical. The theoretical analysis will then be substantiated with subjective experiences in working with EDI & BME committees, various groups decolonising politics, decolonial reading clubs, decolonising the curriculum, pedagogies for social justice and organising inclusive education workshops. Through this work, we question and challenge the deployment of decolonising initiatives which simultaneously provide credibility to contemporary Higher Education and subvert anti-capitalist thought within neoliberal universities. The overarching goal is to critically appraise the tensions and potentials of harm caused by lack of accountability in existing decolonial practices within neo-liberal universities. Furthermore, this paper brings into question the notion of authenticity of labour and who can provide it within said projects.
