Decolonial paralysis: when critique becomes institutionally sustainable

This article examines the tensions between decolonial critique and transformative engagement within peace and conflict scholarship through the concept of ‘decolonial paralysis.’ While decolonial approaches have increasingly shaped academic discussions around epistemic justice, representation, and community engagement, less attention has been given to how institutional structures may constrain the material and relational transformations such critiques seek to advance. Drawing on situated field-based reflections and encounters in Mindanao and Timor-Leste, the article explores how publication-centered academic systems, short-term project cycles, and institutional reward structures shape the forms of knowledge considered legitimate and sustainable within universities and research partnerships. The analysis highlights how decolonial discourse often circulates successfully within academic and professional spaces while community-based forms of engagement remain institutionally precarious and temporally constrained. The article contributes to debates on decolonial scholarship, peace education, and community-engaged research by foregrounding the institutional conditions that shape the possibilities and limitations of transformative praxis.