The Emergence and Development of Africa Decolonial Research Network (ADERN) in South Africa: A Reflection on Trajectories, Challenges, and Prospects

Abstract

One of the fundamental challenges facing many of the decolonial initiatives today is the challenge of reproducing coloniality in the name its opposite, which is decolonization or decoloniality. This happens as a result of many reasons that include among them, the problem of entrapment in colonial mindset that comes with being socialized into a consenting colonial subject and the deliberate attempt to be part of the racket by selfish individuals, among others. Whether deliberate or not, the challenge of contradictions within the decolonial movement is a long-standing challenge that we cannot afford to neglect. For there are always invaluable lessons to be learnt in order to move the struggle to the next level. In this short treatise, I intend to review the challenges and prospects of the ADERN initiative within a modern university institution in South Africa with a view of unmasking some few lessons for the overral decolonial struggle after the demise of juridical-administrative colonialism.