Introduction
Financial debt has had a major role in defining colonial and neocolonial world history. Likewise, it has historically influenced education and plays a central role in shaping education theory, policy, and practice in the contemporary global neoliberal economy. Linda Martín Alcoff (Alcoff 2014) has written that “Decolonizing education requires first and foremost a thorough and comprehensive critical analysis of colonialism itself, in all its subtle guises” (p. 92). With these words in mind, and with a focus on the Americas, the first section of this short piece selectively highlights debt’s role in colonial conquest. Combining historical evidence and contemporary critical theory, the second section of this article traces how debt influences educational experience. Finally, building on the work of Walter D. Mignolo (2011) and other decolonial theorists, it is suggested that “decolonial thinking and doing” within education, and as educational praxis, emboldens resistance...
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Wozniak, J.T. (2016). Debt, Education, and Decolonization. In: Peters, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_478-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-532-7_478-1
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