Abstract
Decolonizing thought, theory, practice, ideology, and academic manifestations in different disciplines have convergent and/or divergent effects and implications. For example, the concept of the “decolonial” is used in Postcolonial Studies and activist movements as resistance to colonization, while cognizant of the persistence and mutational forms of colonial presence, referred to as “colonial hangover” or “internalized colonialism.” In this paper, I discuss three generative framing concept points for continued engagement: Colonial/Decolonial: persistence of and resistance to politics of domination, at various levels. Self-reflexively, I see this conceptual conundrum as shaping not only a finished past but also the unfinished present and future imaginings of identities, positionalities and subjectivities. How do we situate ourselves in what I will call the work of “decolonial delinking.” Global Health: I propose to unpack the terms “ global health” and propose we dialogue on their discursive, ideological and political contexts, legacies and implications. These inquiries are necessary steps in decolonizing current manifestations of power and knowledge. For example, think of two related questions: Is the “global” in global health understood to be “universal” or pluri-versal? What are the socio-cultural determinants of “health”? Cultural Critical Lens: what could a decolonial cultural approach to global health (as an interdisciplinary field) do to critique and disrupt power and knowledge asymmetries (along race, ethnicity, gender/sexuality, class/caste, disability, and religious lines). I also share some examples from South Asian literary works I teach, such as Bapsi Sidhwa’s Cracking India and Mahasweta Devi’s Imaginary maps (translated by Gayatri Spivak).
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Decolonization, Global Health, Cultural, Literary Critical Lens, South Asian Literature
