Editorial: Colonization and decolonization of the mind

Colonization usually refers to a process of appropriating and occupying land; colonialism primarily means the establishment and maintenance of a very specific relationship of domination. The most far-reaching colonizing and colonialist enterprise, and the one with the most far-reaching consequences in terms of its geopolitical impact to this day, is the European conquest and occupation of large parts of the nonEuropean world and the suppression of its populations—an enterprise that began in the late fifteenth century and supposedly ended with the dissolution of colonial empires and the release of most colonized societies into their political independence in the second half of the twentieth century. Although the political and territorial entities that were called colonial empires certainly no longer exist, the colonialist, i.e., asymmetrical, relations between the former colonial powers and their former colonies have survived the centuries. The reason for this is that Western colonialism not only pursued economic and political interests but was also guided by a spiritual attitude, a colonial spirit, that had its cognitive and racist foundation in the conviction of the superiority of white European people—especially white European men—and their achievements. The fact that this spirit is still perceptible today is reflected in culturally established disqualifying, xenophobic and racist discourses, statements, stereotypes and prejudices that continue to influence many of our intercultural encounters and continue to be directed for the most part against people from regions formerly dominated by European colonialism and who are not considered “white.” When talking about the colonial spirit, however, one should be attentive to

Colonization usually refers to a process of appropriating and occupying land; colonialism primarily means the establishment and maintenance of a very specific relationship of domination. The most far-reaching colonizing and colonialist enterprise, and the one with the most far-reaching consequences in terms of its geopolitical impact to this day, is the European conquest and occupation of large parts of the non-European world and the suppression of its populations-an enterprise that began in the late fifteenth century and supposedly ended with the dissolution of colonial empires and the release of most colonized societies into their political independence in the second half of the twentieth century. Although the political and territorial entities that were called colonial empires certainly no longer exist, the colonialist, i.e., asymmetrical, relations between the former colonial powers and their former colonies have survived the centuries. The reason for this is that Western colonialism not only pursued economic and political interests but was also guided by a spiritual attitude, a colonial spirit, that had its cognitive and racist foundation in the conviction of the superiority of white European people-especially white European men-and their achievements. The fact that this spirit is still perceptible today is reflected in culturally established disqualifying, xenophobic and racist discourses, statements, stereotypes and prejudices that continue to influence many of our intercultural encounters and continue to be directed for the most part against people from regions formerly dominated by European colonialism and who are not considered "white." When talking about the colonial spirit, however, one should be attentive to the fact that it is not only about certain attitudes of the colonialists, but also about how these very attitudes were inscribed into the institutions of colonized societies and only in this way were able to unfold their enormous and persistent epistemic power, which is identified, described, analyzed, and criticized especially in so-called postcolonial studies.
European colonization led to the dissemination and establishment of certain views, thinking styles, discourses and knowledge systems that were mainly shaped and prescribed by the so-called Western, i.e., the colonizers' world. Among the most important vessels in which these supporting elements of colonialism were transported to the conquered territories were the sciences and their institutions. The successful globalization of the sciences was not the result of an equal and non-hegemonial scientific exchange based on the recognition of the others' achievements and knowledge, which scientific textbooks like to present as the ethical basis of any scientific exchange; rather, it was the politically intended result of the seizure of global power by Europe with the help of its military, economic, and scientific resources. To a far greater extent than the sciences themselves have been willing to reflect over the centuries, they-in particular the social and cultural sciences-became effective instruments and willing servants of Western colonialism. Within their procedures of data collection, data interpretation, and theory development, they put ethnocentric standards in place in such a way that almost all non-Western ways of thinking and seeing could be dismissed as prescientific, immature and inferior. This ethnocentric approach could then easily be used as a legitimation for devaluing and then replacing theories and categories that helped societies to understand themselves and their worlds by theories and categories imported and imposed by the colonial masters.
Postcolonial studies, sometimes referred to as postcolonialism, have their roots in the multiple disputes between colonial powers and the populations they colonized. In part, these disputes began early, from the sixteenth century onward, in the human rights debates that took place within the colonial powers themselves, for example, in debates between the church and some of the missionaries who worked in colonized territories in Latin America, in Africa, and in Asia. In contemporary postcolonial investigations, there is an increasing focus on the analysis of the continuing effects of colonization on issues of identity construction and knowledge production, with the two being viewed as intimately interdependent. In related postcolonialist contributions, prominent recent concepts such as epistemic violence, epistemic harm, epistemic injustice, or even epistemicide illustrate that postcolonial studies not only critically depict the colonialist legacy in the sciences, they also call for finding ways out of this historically rooted dominance, which is not only scientifically but also psychologically harmful and continues to be pursued by large parts of Western science in terms of science policy. As before, the evaluation and international dissemination of knowledge is largely controlled by the West: the most internationally influential scholarships and prizes are awarded by Western institutions, the most important scientific publishing houses and their journals are institutionalized in Western societies and publish largely in English, the language of what was once the most powerful European colonial power. Although most social scientists, including psychologists, who have been socialized in non-Western contexts and non-Western languages are more familiar with non-Western lifeworlds than their Western K colleagues, the majority of so-called prominent experts on the social and the cultural are mainly Western colleagues, who are also much more visible in the leading journals of their research fields.
If today-more audibly than a few decades ago-there are calls for the decolonization not only of politics but also of the sciences, including the psychological disciplines, it is difficult to overlook the part that postcolonial studies have played in the description and analysis of the problems outlined above. In order to tie in with postcolonialist suggestions and deconstruction efforts that are rare in so-called mainstream psychology, the two editors of this special issue organized the lecture series "Decolonizing psychological research and theory" some time ago, in which colleagues from many parts of the world, including Western and non-Western regions, participated. The contributions collected here are only a few examples of reflections on the problems raised and of suggestions for future improvement of an unfortunate and difficult situation-not just for science and scientists but especially for the billions of people who are rarely represented and frequently distorted in dominating social scientific imaginations about the world and the humans living in it. Thus, the contributions may give an idea of what decolonization can mean and which actions can be taken to solve at least some of the current problems in a manner that helps to provide ground for a culturally sensitive and interculturally competent psychology that is locally, globally, and scientifically useful, and does not merely assist in making non-Western ideas about humans and their psyche invisible.
First and foremost, we would like to thank all our international colleagues who made it possible for us to meet and exchange ideas and who fruitfully stimulated future exchanges. We are also thankful for the support we received from the Hans Kilian and Lotte Köhler Center (KKC) at the Ruhr University Bochum and from the Society for Cultural Psychology.

Pradeep Chakkarath & Doris Weidemann
Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
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