Multidimensional Research Perspectives on Decolonizing Methodologies in Anthropology

Abstract (English)

The decolonization of research methodologies is an urgent and necessary response to the historical entanglement of academic inquiry with colonialism. As Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies argues, research has long been a tool of imperial domination, legitimizing the extraction and appropriation of Indigenous knowledge under the guise of objective inquiry. This panel seeks to interrogate the ways in which dominant research paradigms continue to marginalize non-Western epistemologies and to explore strategies for reclaiming and centering Indigenous and other historically excluded ways of knowing.

Decolonizing methodologies challenge traditional academic assumptions about knowledge production, shifting away from extractive, hierarchical frameworks toward collaborative, community-driven research. This involves questioning the authority of institutionalized “regimes of truth,” reevaluating concepts such as “discovery” and “objectivity,” and recognizing research as a deeply political act. By engaging with methodologies that foreground Indigenous self-determination, oral traditions, and participatory approaches, we aim to dismantle the epistemic injustices embedded within the anthropological canon.

This panel invites scholars working at the intersections of anthropology, Indigenous studies, and decolonial thought to share methodological innovations that disrupt hegemonic research practices. By fostering a dialogue that moves beyond critique to actionable methodological transformation, this panel seeks to contribute to the growing movement for epistemic justice and to reimagine the role of anthropology in a decolonial future.