Culture, Decolonization and Ecology

This chapter engages with contemporary academic culture as well as concerns that pertain to universities as a consequence of extra-academic developments, namely ecology and postcolonialism. Different facets of academic culture will be identified in the chapter. Accordingly, I have as my point of departure the distinction between an externalist and internalist culture vis-à-vis the academy. In the case of externalist culture, culture is about the interconnectedness of the academy to the wider society; something which is beyond reasonable doubt these days. There is also an internal academic culture, that of critical discourse. Somewhat fortuitously, the latter has properties of resilience and still endures. The movement to decolonialize the universities has recently challenged universities’ participation in (and benefitting of) colonialism. For this movement, the production and dissemination of knowledge is indeed not to be separated from geopolitics. Decolonial efforts remain ongoing inside universities and beyond. Lastly, institutions of higher learning are confronting the threat of climate breakdown with different levels of urgency. Its implications for universities are widespread, principally encompassing research, teaching and the institutional footprint on the ecological world.