Becoming Independent: Institutions and Epistemologies of History Writing in the Age of Decolonisation

Abstract This special issue analyses how formal independence from colonial rule has impacted institutions and epistemologies of history writing in different parts of the world after 1945. The integrated collection of articles focuses on the transitions and ruptures of knowledge production taking place in the wake of states gaining their formal independence. It explores how different types of decolonisation led to different engagements with history writing, and by doing so we provide fresh perspectives on processes of knowledge decolonisation. In this introduction we situate the special issue in two bodies of literature: firstly, decolonial and postcolonial debates about history and epistemology, and secondly, the literature on the decolonisation process with a specific focus on memory and commemoration. We argue that a fuller understanding of the similarities and differences between knowledge decolonisation then and now requires solid historical contextualisation of the mid-century ideas and vocabularies.