Decolonial Psychology

"This is groundbreaking work of excellent scholarship that is consistently attentive to the community pertinent psychological issues and indeed the topical and relevant themes of liberation, geospatial realities, well-being, healing, love, relationalities, indigeneity, epistemology, pedagogy, and methodologies. It deploys decoloniality in its reconstitution of psychology to reflect concrete historical and contemporary lifeworlds of diverse people. I have nothing but praise for both the editors and the contributors for delivering this masterpiece. Decolonial Psychology: Academic and Activist Perspectives is a long overdue magisterial work of decolonization of knowledge in psychology making it combative and helpful to oppressed societies and peoples' struggles for re-existence. Reading this handbook is a journey in unlearning and relearning."

Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Professor of History and Canada Research Chair, University of Calgary, Canada.

“Decolonial Psychology: Academic and Activist Perspectives serves as both, an introduction, and an extension of psychology from the Global South. It is an essential textbook for those in psychology and related disciplines, as well for those interested in decoloniality.”

Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Department of Philospophy, University of Connecticut, USA.

"If you find you have a "touch" of GFD (global fascist despair), Decolonial Psychology: Academic and Activist Perspectives is written for you. Aloe for the critical psychologists' soul, i encourage you to read/teach/take the volume to bed. The chapters remind us that psychologists who are dedicated to decolonial methods, excavating buried and stolen knowledges, re-imagining psychology as liberatory, are not alone. We are immersed in a rich, expansive and exhilarating chosen academic family/global movement of writers/theorists/researchers/teachers/activists dedicated to theory, inquiry, healing, solidarities and joy - within Psychology!

Drawing from Global North and South, articulating colonial deposits, radical imaginaries, provocative forms of epistemic justice and aesthetic awakenings, the volume reminds of us of the critical psychological projects that have been pursued, by our ancestors, in hell/at the margins/in deeply oppressive conditions - with a cocktail of love, wisdom and rage; the work that is being launched collaboratively in dangerous and demanding circumstances and the work that must be done to nourish the liberatory not yet as critically engaged scholar activists in a global chain of possibilities. The best medicine for despair may be friends, books, radical ideas, knowing from where we come and imagining where we are headed - together."

Michelle Fine, Distinguished Professor of Critical Psychology and Urban Education, The Graduate Center, CUNY, USA.

"Decolonial Psychology: Academic and Activist Perspectives showcases the diverse efforts that challenge the dominant Euro-American psychological frameworks that perpetuate colonial legacies. It critiques the prevailing Euro-American models, which often ignore the experiences of the Global South and underrepresented groups, reinforcing colonial logic. It highlights the ethical imperative to include diverse perspectives in psychological research and practice as current practices often overlook the lived realities of marginalized communities. It would serve as a valuable resource for reimagining psychology as a discipline that prioritizes healing and collective well-being over individual achievement. It calls for a transformative approach that embraces diverse epistemologies, ultimately striving for a more humane and inclusive psychological practice that honors the complexities of human experiences across different geographies. An outstanding volume that richly illustrates the tremendous possibilities of decolonial psychology."

Girishwar Misra, Ph.D., Ex Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya, India.

"A candid, yet devastatingly honest revelation of the array of psychologies that have been practiced widely across a broad swathe of physical and social geographies in the majority world, yet have endured erasure, silencing or subordination. Bhatia, Fernández and Sonn reflect and refract a contemporary genre of critical thinking and practice amongst scholars and practitioners of decolonial psychology, who are unapologetic about surfacing the manner in which this psychology manifests in the long wake of coloniality, on the margins, in the borderlands, and from the majority world. Undaunted by the historical weight of dominant Western and Northern epistemes, they uncover the myriad of ways in which psychology, in these contexts, generates new knowledges as a form of social history from below; can retrieve and draw on the indigenous and localized lived experiences of those for whom it is meant to be a benefit; and ultimately, can transcend the institutional strictures of universities to become a truly decolonial practice that moves from a form of thinking to a mode of active doing and being in the world. This book is a must read and a call to action for all those interested in decolonial psychology, a psychology that is alive and open to become less bounded by Western epistemes and social histories, and a psychology that can be refigured, reshaped and reclaimed to become a more expansive archive of knowledge and practice that is reflective of a more inclusive and egalitarian polity."

Garth Stevens, Professor of Psychology and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

"This volume continues the work of scholars and activists from colonized worlds to circulate liberatory knowledge of resistance, survival and healing"

Clare Land, Moondani Balluk Academic Unit, Victoria University, Australia.