Contestation and Compromise explores the (im)possibility of pursuing decolonial, anti-racist, and anti-caste work within universities by revealing the contradictions inherent in undertaking such efforts inside institutions built through colonialism, racism, and casteism. Across thirteen chapters grounded in diverse international research, the contributors develop an intersectional framework rooted in a multilayered critique of how colonial capitalism, racialization, and caste shape higher education and the experiences of those within the system. Additionally, this volume skillfully combines policy, theory, and lived experience to offer first-hand accounts from faculty and students engaged in this work in universities. This book will be of great interest to academics, particularly within the fields of critical race studies, anti-caste studies, and the burgeoning field of critical university studies, as well as to activists and EDI practitioners.
Contributors: Aashadh, Jamila Beesley, Maria Cárdenas, Alexander E. Da Costa, Dia Da Costa, Huma Dar, Shikha Diwakar, Cuso Ehrich, Paul L. Gareau, Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Zahro Hassan, Prof-Collins Ifeonu, Carl E. James, Paulina R. Johnson, André Keet, Nicole Lugosi-Schimpf, Radhika Marwaha, Prem Pariyar, Shaista Aziz Patel, Daniella Rafaely, manmit singh, Shirley Anne Tate, Breitner Tavares, Vidya, Natahnee Winder
Table of Contents:
Introduction / Alexandre E. Da Costa and Shaista Aziz Patel
Chapter 1: Meaningful Modes of Resistance: Decolonial Indigenization within Higher Education / Nicole Lugosi-Schimpf and Paul L. Gareau
Chapter 2: Decolonizing Diversity in German Higher Education: Thinking through the Analysis of Racial Capitalism and Coloniality in Europe / María Cárdenas, Cuso Ehrich, and Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez
Chapter 3: ‘Excellence’ and the [Re] Racialisation of the South African University System / Daniella Rafaely and André Keet
Chapter 4: The Importance of Affirmative Action for Black Quota Students as a Strategy Against Mental Illness and Suicide / Breitner Tavares
Chapter 5: Caught in the Vortex of Racial Inequity: Black Students’ Experiences on University Campuses / Carl E. James
Chapter 6: White Feminist Supremacy, Allyship, and Relational Coalition Praxis / Shirley Anne Tate
Chapter 7: The Peaks and Troughs of Black Student Politics Post-George Floyd: A Narrative Account / Prof-Collins Ifeonu and Zahro Hassan
Chapter 8: Nêhiyawak Intelligence in Colonial Spaces / Paulina R. Johnson
Chapter 9: The NDN Academic: A Conversation Between Blue-Sky Woman and Butterfly Woman as They Reminisce and Bridge into the Present / Paulina R. Johnson and Natahnee N. Winder
Chapter 10: Ethics of Doing Research: Notes from Dalit Women Reflexive Journal / Shikha Diwakar
Chapter 11: Beginning with Us: Teaching about Caste in Anti-Oppressive Classrooms / Dia Da Costa and Shaista Aziz Patel
Chapter 12: From Caste Abolition to Adding Caste as a Protected Category: Reflections from the University Caste Protections Movement / Aashadh, Jamila Beesley, Prem Pariyar, Vidya, manmit singh, and Radhika
Chapter 13: On Kashmir, Caste, and Islamophobia in American Academia: Interview with Huma Dar / Shaista Aziz Patel
Conclusion / Alexandre E. Da Costa and Shaista Aziz Patel
Epilogue: A Nêhiyawiskwêw Manifesto / Paulina R. Johnson
Appendix: Chapter Manuscript Review Guidelines
About the Author :
Shaista Aziz Patel is Assistant Professor in the Ethnic Studies Department at UC San Diego and a scholar of Critical Muslim Studies.
Alexandre E. Da Costa is Professor of Social Justice and International Studies in Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta.
Paulina R. Johnson is Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Alberta. She is a citizen of Nipisihkopahk, Samson Cree Nation, in Maskwacis.
Review :
“Interrogating the maintenance of coloniality within the university, Contestation and Compromise is an honest critical moment of owning one’s positionality in relation to caste, class, and our entanglements with colonialism.” Benita Bunjun, Saint Mary’s University
“Transnational in its framing, Contestation and Compromise respectfully amplifies the voices of scholars who make explicit and intentional connections across experiences of settler colonialism, racism, and casteism.” Sailaja V. Krishnamurti, Queen’s University
