Anti-racism and Decoloniality
Global inequality and injustice are rooted in the legacies of colonialism and racism. Colonialism is widely understood to have shaped the global humanitarian and development systems, both historically and currently; racial and cultural biases are present in and actively shaping the structures and actions in these systems. These forces show up in the ways of working, the practices, and the policies of the humanitarian and development sectors, including the following:
- The language used to talk about people affected by crisis
- Who holds power in decision-making spaces and processes
- Who holds power over money and resources and who has access to them
- Who holds the power to set global agendas and produce knowledge
It is essential to approach EiE through a lens of equity, decoloniality, and anti-racism. Equity refers to fair and just practices that are achieved by systematically assessing disparities in opportunities, outcomes, and representation, and by addressing these issues through targeted actions. Decoloniality broadly refers to a process that aims to question and transform legacies of colonialism in institutions, structures, and ways of knowing. It involves actively addressing actions, behaviors, and decisions that uphold or reinforce the power dynamics of colonialism. Anti-racism is more than the absence of racism. It is an active process of challenging structures and practices of racism. It is essential for the global education community to engage critically with these concepts, to work for locally led humanitarian action, and take action to dismantle unbalanced power structures and inequality.
This collection was curated by the INEE Secretariat with support from Zeena Zakharia, EdD. To suggest resources or edits, contact website@inee.org.