The Multicentered Decentering of the Coloniality of Power: a View from Scotland

Emma Hill

The Multicentered Decentering of the Coloniality of Power: a View from Scotland

Emma Hill

Social Work And Social Policy

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

How do we conceptualise, map, critique and undo the colonialities of power, citizenship and bordering that operate in contemporary Scotland? The question may appear to enter familiar terrain, since in recent years, substantial scholarly work has been undertaken to trace and analyse the consequences of Scottish colonial activities
both in the locations of former colonies, and within the Scottish ‘metropole’ (Liinpäa, 2018; Mullen, 2009a, 2009b, 2022b). Ongoing anti-racist, anti-bordering scholarship and activism also brings a familiarity with critique of these topics. However, across these two strands of criticism, the function of coloniality in Scotland remains under-addressed; either superseded somewhat by ongoing debates over Scottish roles in historic colonialism, or under-theorised in attempts in the ongoing present to address the urgency of contemporary injustices in Scotland.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Essays on Decoloniality
Subtitle of host publication	Volume 2
Editors	Ben Fletcher-Watson, Lesley McAra, Désha Osborne
Place of Publication	Edinburgh
Pages	197-220
Number of pages	24
Publication status	Published - 31 Aug 2025

Publication series

Name	IASH Occasional Papers
Publisher	The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities
Volume	30
ISSN (Print)	2041-8817
ISSN (Electronic)	2634-7342

Keywords

Scottish colonial activities
citizenship
slave trade

Cite this

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title = "The Multicentered Decentering of the Coloniality of Power: a View from Scotland",

abstract = "How do we conceptualise, map, critique and undo the colonialities of power, citizenship and bordering that operate in contemporary Scotland? The question may appear to enter familiar terrain, since in recent years, substantial scholarly work has been undertaken to trace and analyse the consequences of Scottish colonial activities both in the locations of former colonies, and within the Scottish {\textquoteleft}metropole{\textquoteright} (Liinp{\"a}a, 2018; Mullen, 2009a, 2009b, 2022b). Ongoing anti-racist, anti-bordering scholarship and activism also brings a familiarity with critique of these topics. However, across these two strands of criticism, the function of coloniality in Scotland remains under-addressed; either superseded somewhat by ongoing debates over Scottish roles in historic colonialism, or under-theorised in attempts in the ongoing present to address the urgency of contemporary injustices in Scotland. ",

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The Multicentered Decentering of the Coloniality of Power: a View from Scotland

Abstract

Publication series

Keywords

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