Article Version of Record

Stages of colonialism in Africa: From occupation of land to occupation of being

Author(s) / Creator(s)

Bulhan, Hussein A.

Abstract / Description

This paper draws primarily on my own scholarship, supplemented by the limited academic resources available in the “peripheries” of the world where I live and work (namely, Somali society and Darfur, Sudan), to consider the relationship between colonialism and psychology. I first consider the history of psychology in justifying and bolstering oppression and colonialism. I then consider the ongoing intersection of colonialism and psychology in the form of metacolonialism (or coloniality). I end with thoughts about decolonizing psychological science in teaching, social, and clinical practice. To decolonize psychological science, it is necessary to transform its focus from promotion of individual happiness to cultivation of collective well-being, from a concern with instinct to promotion of human needs, from prescriptions for adjustment to affordances for empowerment, from treatment of passive victims to creation of self-determining actors, and from globalizing, top-down approaches to context-sensitive, bottom-up approaches. Only then will the field realize its potential to advance Frantz Fanon’s call for humane and just social order.

Keyword(s)

coloniality decolonial metacolonialism Franz Fanon Africa

Persistent Identifier

Date of first publication

2015-08-21

Journal title

Journal of Social and Political Psychology

Volume

3

Issue

1

Page numbers

239–256

Publisher

PsychOpen GOLD

Publication status

publishedVersion

Review status

peerReviewed

Is version of

Citation

Bulhan, H. A. (2015). Stages of colonialism in Africa: From occupation of land to occupation of being. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 3(1), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v3i1.143
  • Author(s) / Creator(s)
    Bulhan, Hussein A.
  • PsychArchives acquisition timestamp
    2018-11-26T12:44:52Z
  • Made available on
    2018-11-26T12:44:52Z
  • Date of first publication
    2015-08-21
  • Abstract / Description
    This paper draws primarily on my own scholarship, supplemented by the limited academic resources available in the “peripheries” of the world where I live and work (namely, Somali society and Darfur, Sudan), to consider the relationship between colonialism and psychology. I first consider the history of psychology in justifying and bolstering oppression and colonialism. I then consider the ongoing intersection of colonialism and psychology in the form of metacolonialism (or coloniality). I end with thoughts about decolonizing psychological science in teaching, social, and clinical practice. To decolonize psychological science, it is necessary to transform its focus from promotion of individual happiness to cultivation of collective well-being, from a concern with instinct to promotion of human needs, from prescriptions for adjustment to affordances for empowerment, from treatment of passive victims to creation of self-determining actors, and from globalizing, top-down approaches to context-sensitive, bottom-up approaches. Only then will the field realize its potential to advance Frantz Fanon’s call for humane and just social order.
    en_US
  • Publication status
    publishedVersion
  • Review status
    peerReviewed
  • Citation
    Bulhan, H. A. (2015). Stages of colonialism in Africa: From occupation of land to occupation of being. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 3(1), 239–256. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v3i1.143
    en_US
  • ISSN
    2195-3325
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1358
  • Persistent Identifier
    https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1721
  • Language of content
    eng
  • Publisher
    PsychOpen GOLD
  • Is version of
    https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v3i1.143
  • Keyword(s)
    coloniality
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    decolonial
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    metacolonialism
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Franz Fanon
    en_US
  • Keyword(s)
    Africa
    en_US
  • Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)
    150
  • Title
    Stages of colonialism in Africa: From occupation of land to occupation of being
    en_US
  • DRO type
    article
  • Issue
    1
  • Journal title
    Journal of Social and Political Psychology
  • Page numbers
    239–256
  • Volume
    3
  • Visible tag(s)
    Version of Record