By Touseef Mir / part of our “Share your Decolonising Story” project
The concept of development has been significant in shaping the current texture of the world and society around us. Not only was development an important tool of the European colonial enterprise, but the notion of development also resonates with similar power hierarchies. However, there is increasing realisation, especially within academia, about not only the colonial beginnings of development but its continued and significant (neo)colonial hues, be it in theory, policy or praxis of development.
Colonial ecosystems:
A growing wave of scholarship within the field of development highlights how knowledge production as well as systems of knowledge within Development Studies – like the rest of the mainstream academy – reveal inherent colonial undertones as well as manifest power hierarchies. This has brought forth rich ideas and initiatives that not only flag but also suggest measures to undo, or at least address, the colonial structures, especially within critical, decolonial and feminist streams of scholarship.
That being said, the stark reality remains that much of the work within the field still continues to unintentionally pander to its colonial underpinnings -directly or indirectly. This mainly happens due to the largely unquestioned predominance of the Eurocentric lens through which we not only understand and approach knowledge, but also produce it and act upon it as well. Therefore, it seems that the road towards the desired decolonial ends is tedious and the journey terse.
What’s more, consider that not only our epistemologies are overwhelmingly Eurocentric in nature but also mostly anglophonic, laden with academic gobbledegook and locked behind paywalls. Publishing research is mainly aimed at profile building and career progression with a cutthroat competition of getting published in top Eurocentric journals. All this without worrying much about the ability of the researched/probed communities to either access or relate to such outputs.
Imagining the efforts of decolonising to yield fruits in an ecosystem that is engineered and continues to reproduce colonial structures may be in someways paradoxical. In that sense, such endeavours may rather be vulnerable to reproducing coloniality with limited potential of disrupting the imposed status quo, if not the entire ecosystem. Put simply, a decolonial imagination without imagining disturbance of the status quo of the entire ecosystem might have more potential for feel-good exercises than actually yielding the desired ends. A good way forward draws on Peter Taylor and Crystal Tremblay’s perspective on decolonising knowledge for development which invites us to rethink the dominance of Eurocentric knowledges and acknowledge plurality of knowledges whilst being clear on whose knowledge is pandered to and how to undo knowledge hierarchies.
So how does a decolonial movement then shape up as?
A positive step in that direction is imagining theory and praxis of development beyond the constraints and ambits of the aforementioned ecosystem. In other words, such approach should facilitate knowledges and praxis that dare to think and draw beyond Eurocentric imaginations, uphold the local/non-Eurocentric epistemologies as equally valid and appreciate the ability of such knowledges and praxis of producing solution(s) to their local problems. As such, the decolonial approach should foundationally upend the gaze of development thinking, producing knowledge as well as praxis that is both accessible and relatable to the communities or societies it draws from.
The ability to be relatable to its communities requires reimagining knowledge production. Diversifying the imagination of outputs beyond the mainstream academic jargons would be an important step in this direction
Thus, a significant aspect of decolonising should be thinking of knowledge, outputs and praxis in terms of popular engagement and dissemination. This should involve not only a more decentralised idea of knowledge production, including a rethink of the very lexis and grammar of it, but also diversified outputs designed to engage the communities concerned. Put simply, an approach to be indispensably based on research and praxis not only non-extractive in nature but also oriented to think with the people rather than for them.
Pe’nd Online: a baby step in the direction:
The Kashmiri online education and awareness platform Pe’nd Online is driven by the above principles. The name Pe’nd is Kashmiri in origin, meaning an informal space for people to gather and engage. In line with its literal meaning, Pe’nd Online has endeavoured be the Pe’nd for Kashmiris globally (online!). It is one of many similar initiatives globally that aim to think beyond not only Eurocentric visions and anglophonic imaginations but also monochromatic (academic) outputs that are mostly inaccessible or meaningless to the communities concerned. Pe’nd Online remains committed to generating knowledge that is decentralised, participatory, engaging and relatable vis-à-vis to Kashmiri peoples. In doing so it dares to reimagine the very lexis, space and idea of knowledge production and community engagement. As such, it aims to not only at merging advocacy, discourse and praxis, but also at an approach that does not reinforce power or knowledge asymmetries. Thus, although not perfect, it is an initiative definitely oriented in the right direction. So how does Pe’nd Online do this?
Background:
Emerging in the backdrop of the Covid-19 lockdown imposed on Kashmir on top of the August 2019 political lockdown, the Pe’nd Online platform came through to fill the void in a significantly choked space. It became a space for education, awareness and knowledge production. Thus, the first mission undertaken was to raise awareness of the impending Covid-19 crisis that had already hit Europe and was making inroads into South Asia. With limited healthcare infrastructure like ventilators and hospital beds in Kashmir, the platform committed to pre-emptively inform preparedness before the wave struck home, as they say, prevention is better than cure! Thus, Kashmiri doctors serving on the frontlines outside Kashmir, like in the NHS in the UK, Middle East and US medical systems and the medics at the forefront in Kashmir were brought together to unpack the spectre of the Covid-19 pandemic for people in their own language, Kashmiri. Rumours and myths were dispelled, preventive measures were discussed. All this was done while keeping the conversations live and giving the people a chance to ask questions, share their worries and discuss their preparations. The Covid-19 sessions became quite popular and were shared widely by the masses. On top of multiple sessions on Covid-19) for the next two years, the myths and hesitation around vaccination and safe burial procedures were also discussed regularly. Apart from that, the platform also collaboratively ran a crowd funding campaign ‘ShuhulShah’ [breath of ease] ending up donating 39 oxygen concentrators and a dialysis machine for free public use in Kashmir.
Moreover, not remaining confined to Covid-19 sessions, Pe’nd Online simultaneously continued its engagement by doing weekly live panel discussions in similar style on issues important to Kashmiris. From agriculture , to gender, to casteism, to drug abuse, to employment to entrepreneurial development, to health, to environment, to climate change, Pe’nd Online covered around 300 topics, getting experts globally, alongside their Kashmiri counterparts, to discuss and provide educational content to the masses. An important aspect of the sessions has been to not have male only/dominated panels to address the pervading gender stereotypes. For instance, it was one of the first platforms to bring in an all women panel of Kashmiri agricultural scientists to engage with the masses on agricultural issues. More controversially, it brought in women scholars to discuss religion. These initiatives in a rather patriarchal society significantly broke stereotypes and helped address related prejudices.
Another vital function of the sessions has been as a space connecting the Kashmiri community globally by bringing Kashmiri experts from the diaspora to join their counterparts back home and together engage and interact with Kashmiri audiences. This has been appreciated by the panellists as well as the audiences for generating a sense of community globally.
Moreover, Pe’nd Online has, individually and collaboratively, conducted workshops, trainings and lecture series. This includes the now regular annual PhD training series, with its fourth series this year and good student success each year. It mainly gets top Kashmiri and other South Asian academics to help aspirants prepare for PhD research, teaching them basics of research, research proposal writing, skills for funding, etc. Many of the participants have made it to well-known institutions globally. The lectures are freely available for public use. For instance, securing funded PhD admissions in UK by Prof Priyamvada Gopal from Cambridge University, theoretical framework by Prof Shaista Patel from University of California San Diego.
Pe’nd Online has also done commendable work on the epidemic rise in drug abuse in Kashmir through sessions with experts from around the globe sharing their experiences to enrich the responses on the ground. For instance, it got people from Alcoholics Anonymous Canada and Milta-e-Islami (its Muslim version in the US) to share their experiences and strategies with the counsellors and activists on the ground. It is currently working on a short video series on rising infertility rates in Kashmir.
How does all that contribute to the decolonial debate?
Pe’nd Online remains committed to imagining and existing beyond Eurocentric epistemologies, academic jargons and anglophonic narratives. To make heuristic sense of the engagements, Pe’nd Online can be principally understood to contribute to the decolonial endeavours in three major ways:
Decolonising Language: as a predominantly Kashmiri platform, it not only uses Kashmiri language as the means of engagement but also Kashmiri concepts to make sense of things. It was among the first popular social media platforms to do scholarly engagements in Kashmiri. At a time when an overwhelming majority of people in Kashmir raise their children in non-Kashmiri languages (Urdu and English) and the mode of instruction in educational institutions is predominantly English, this reinforces with the popularity of Kashmiri language. Losing the language means losing connections with the past, with literature and as such with the basis of one’s identity eventually. Appreciating the palpable as well as imminent dangers, Pe’nd Online’s endeavour to shape its engagements around Kashmiri language plays a role in stymying the growing loss and disengagement with Kashmiri language.
Decolonising Space: Pe’nd online comes as one of the many endeavours globally that challenge the idea that knowledge production and intellectual engagement can only happen in particular spaces (physical or otherwise) like universities, guilds, journals or conferences. As a popular platform it has focussed on education and knowledge production through live interactive panel discussions, trainings, lecture series, workshops and mentoring, pro bono and without any formal institutionalisation.
Instead of monetary or other material considerations, most participants are happy to connect and do their bit towards their community. The endeavour has challenged the idea that particular knowledges or a particular standard of education, training or counselling need a particular background or social/political baggage and can only happen in particular countries or institutions. It has popularised and made accessible engagement with knowledge and experts without relying on physical spaces or formal institutional set-ups.
Cognitive Decolonising: one of the most significant outcomes of the Pe’nd Online engagements has been its overall impact on supplementing a cognitive decolonial vision. This has mainly through people’s recognition that their knowledge, their language, their perspectives and world visions are rich and not inferior, and that they are perfectly capable of generating solutions to their individual and collective issues.
In the wake of the general educational system in Kashmir ignoring the significance of engagement with Kashmiri language, culture, history, and tradition countering the marginalisation and inferiorisation of Kashmiri ways of knowing and being becomes significant.
Another vital aspect of cognitive decolonising vis-à-vis Pe’nd Online is that the call on topics, issues, panellists, outputs and engagements is decentralised and jointly decided by the team and supporters on the ground.
In conclusion, Pe’nd Online provides an effective example of disturbing the status quo of the aforementioned (neo)colonial ecosystem. Through its regular multiple modes of engagement, the platform endeavours to bring together academy, advocacy and praxis while remaining committed to decolonial principles. Engagements like these could work as templates to think more broadly about decolonising theory and praxis, and the development-space and the academy in general. It provides an example of an approach to knowledge production that is accessible and relatable to the communities concerned and remains committed to thinking with the people rather than for them.
Touseef Mir is the Founder of Pe’nd Online. He is a political ethnographer, decolonial scholar and public engagement advocate. He is faculty member at the Department of Development Studies at SOAS, University of London. He is also a research affiliate at the Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab (Food Lab) at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He serves as a governing council member of the Development Studies Association of the UK and is part EADI’s task group on decolonising knowledge in Development Studies.
Image: bluemorphos under a Pixabay Licence on Pixabay