Decolonising academia: in conversation with Syed Farid Alatas on the challenges ahead and the paths forward

In this interdisciplinary dialogue, Syed Farid Alatas reflects on the major themes of his intellectual journey and continuing work to decolonise academia. Whilst there are reasons for optimism about the future of decolonisation – such as increasing global multipolarity – challenges nonetheless remain. The global rise of neoliberalism in university systems, along with uncritical adoption of standardised metrics and performance indicators, poses a significant barrier to grassroots efforts to liberate academia from colonial entanglements. Through concepts such as ‘captive mind’, Alatas explains the psychology of intellectual colonisation. Moving forward from the present predicament in which Global South knowledge creation remains overwhelmingly framed by Global North institutions requires more than recognition of how the psychology of coloniality operates. Alatas gives much food for thought on how psychological coloniality combines with the inertia of capitalist systems to perpetuate the knowledge hegemony of the Global North. In visiting his idea of ‘original construction’, he moves us towards indications of possible paths forward. By relying on alternative intellectual traditions, including indigenous knowledge and trans-regional frameworks, including Islamic philosophy, both within individual scholarship and at institutional levels, we can begin to move beyond the systems that currently trap us in a hegemonic bind.