Auto-Decolonisation: Lifelong Education for Decolonisation

Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

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Lifelong Learning; Social Systems; Western Civilization; Indigenous Populations; Ideology; Power Structure; Indigenous Knowledge; Program Descriptions; Foreign Countries; Languages; Language Maintenance; Cultural Maintenance; Self Concept

10.1080/02601370.2021.1945152

0260-1370

In this article I will first address what decolonisation is with specific reference to the colonisation and enslavement (Nelson, 2006) of Indigenous peoples, specifically my own people, the Indigenous Amami of the former Ryukyu Kingdom. According to Laenui (2006), there were five steps of colonisation, many of which I suggest are not yet complete. These steps, as a linear progression, are based on the colonisers' viewpoints rather than the perspectives of the colonised (Nakagawa & Kouritzin, 2018). While Laenui puts forward five steps to decolonisation, I suggest that Indigenous peoples must live more than one lifetime to overthrow the mental shackles of colonisation, in particular our reliance on capitalism and its ideologies. Specifically, Indigenous peoples must first learn everything there is to learn from their oppressors, and then we must come to the limits of their knowledge and overcome the colonial mindset. I will address this, our collective lifelong learning project of auto-decolonisation, citing examples from my People's encounters with the impact of Western education systems.

As Provided

2022

EJ1329612