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Koleksi Khas Digital
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| Abstract : |
| A recent Facebook post by Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Zambry Abd Kadir, on the need to teach colonialism in its full historical depth and contemporary relevance is not only a wake-up call in terms of reforming the world of academia in Malaysia, but also a strategic response in the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
He was responding to International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)'s Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation professor Datuk Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican comment on the need to enhance the teaching of colonial history in universities, particularly in journalism schools.
Zambry further argued that: "Without a critical understanding of colonial legacies, we risk producing graduates who are technically competent, yet intellectually dependent – unable to interrogate the very systems they operate within".
Zambry also warned about romanticising postcolonial discourse, as if we have been fully liberated in the true sense of the word.
In academics, there exists a phenomenon called the 'Captive Mind', a term popularised by prominent sociologist, Prof. Dr. Syed Hussein Alatas, referring to a new form of intellectual colonialism.
Zambry posed a challenge to decolonise knowledge, or in his own words, "a call for intellectual sovereignty" as he contended that:
"Universities must not become mere consumers of global knowledge hierarchies. They must be producers of thought – grounded in our realities, confident in our intellectual traditions, and courageous in challenging dominant paradigms."
In the realm of social sciences, economics is perhaps one of the few "latecomers" to the discourse of decolonisation of knowledge.
It is understandable, as many of their inherent assumptions and understandings of reality are deemed universal, when in actuality, they are nothing but Eurocentric and US-centric perspective of reality.
Indeed, decolonisation of economics requires us to understand the Eurocentrism in economics.
Our understanding of capitalism, the idea of development, the meaning of progress, and the very definition of economic activity itself is very much Eurocentric; what is more, with the underlying thinking, philosophical, epistemological, ideological, and theoretical nature of economics is very much dominated by one school of thought – neo-classical economics.
During the 19th century, when the British colonised us, even what we, the natives, were doing at that time was not considered an economic activity and thus did not constitute what the British defined as economics.
Only what they did, such as mining and rubber tapping in a large scale, is considered economic activity. Worse still, those who refused to join such an activity were considered "lazy". Such a danger of a Eurocentric outlook as distorting reality.
One lesson to learn from the current war in the Middle East, is the need to teach colonialism and eventually to decolonise knowledge.
To do that, we need to address the issue of Eurocentrism comprehensively and eventually move to the creation of a new school of thought which is autonomous in its orientation.
It basically means to shift away from Eurocentric and US-centric economics, that is, the domination of the neo-classical/neo-liberal vantage point, and to focus more on the creation of local knowledge, based on our own intellectual tradition, local experience of the economic activities of production and consumption, based on our own political values.
To address Eurocentrism, we need to be aware of how it distorts reality, its false universalism, like the West is better, and more importantly, its marginalisation of local indigenous voices.
We also see the danger of heavily relying on the US dollar, we understand the many problems of capitalism, and we are now aware that economic institutions which govern the world economy today, which are seen as "global" or "international", are actually Eurocentric and US-centric in their outlook.
Even a relatively new branch in economics and finance, such as Islamic economics, is seen as Eurocentric, as it is still operating in the realm of the capitalist economic system.
Islamic finance is one clear example where the idea of consumerism is still prevalent. Embracing capitalism produces a scarcity mindset, and thus, when the supply of oil is in danger, our survival and our comfort in life seem to be threatened as well.
We view life satisfaction, or happiness, in terms of gross domestic product (GDP); and now, we are on the verge of ecological collapse as a result.
These are just some examples of the danger of Eurocentrism in economics. Indeed, Coloniality and the Captive Mind must be addressed at its roots.
Only then will intellectual sovereignty emerge. One of the ways to begin is by questioning how we measure scholarship. As Zambry accurately put it:
"The prevailing templates of scholarship and intellectual validation must also be questioned.
"The over-reliance on metrics such as Scopus risks creating a homogenised intellectual ecosystem – where knowledge is standardised, perspectives are filtered, and local epistemologies are marginalised…A university worthy of its name must not only teach knowledge – but interrogate its origin, question its structures, and redefine its purpose in service of humanity."
* The writer is associate professor and senior fellow at the Economic and Financial Policy Institute (ECOFI), Universiti Utara Malaysia |
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