A review of decolonial praxis in development studies [review of the book challenging global development: towards decoloniality and justice
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Date
2026-05-21
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sokoine University of Agriculture
Abstract
This review critically assesses Challenging Global Development: Towards Decoloniality and Justice, edited by
Henning Melber, Uma Kothari, Laura Camfield, and Kees Biekart (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), as a timely and provocative
contribution to the decolonisation of development studies. The review employs a threefold analytical framework examining:
(i) theoretical contributions to post-development and decolonial thought, (ii) epistemological innovations in research
methodology and knowledge production, and (iii) practical implications for pedagogy, research ethics, and development
practice. The edited volume brings together scholars from the Global South and North to challenge essentialist ontological
assumptions underpinning mainstream development, particularly those embedded in the Sustainable Development Goals
framework. Key strengths include the volume’s grounding in grounded alternatives, such as India’s Vikalp Sangam process,
Zapatista self-rule in Mexico, and Indigenous resistance to extractivism in Latin America, and its attention to relational
accountability, refusal, and Indigenous Data Sovereignty in research ethics. However, the review identifies limitations,
including an underdeveloped engagement with degrowth and South-South cooperation’s contradictory relationship with
decoloniality, as well as challenges in translating decolonial pedagogy within career-oriented university programmes. While
the volume successfully deconstructs development’s coloniality, it leaves unresolved whether “development” itself remains a
viable category after decolonisation. This review concludes that the book is an essential resource for scholars and
practitioners committed to epistemic justice, though future work must more concretely address material reparations,
redistributive justice, and the tensions between local autonomy and large-scale systemic transformation in an era of
polycrisis.
Description
BOOK REVIEW
Keywords
Decoloniality, Post-development, Epistemic justice, Pluriverse, Relational accountability
Citation
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-30308-1