(De)Coloniality, Indigeneity and the Cultural Politics of English as an International Language: A Quest for the ‘Third Space’

Abstract

The forces of globalisation and empire are inexorably interconnected with English as a global language. English has been de-territorialised and indigenised in a way that has considerably transformed Southern local identities. First, theoretical constructs related to English as an international language and the concept of (de)coloniality are defined. Then, decolonial projects associated with the need to regenerate Indigenous knowledges and the pluriversal modes of thinking are briefly outlined in relation to educational and academic spaces. Finally, it is argued that hegemonic Eurocentric knowledge systems have always been inextricably linked to colonialist thinking in the ways they have misrepresented, demonised, problematised, and pathologised cultural others.