TY - JOUR
AU - Chaudhuri MM
AU - Mkumba L
AU - Raveendran Y
AU - Smith RD
AB - In March 2021, Khan et al published a commentary titled ‘Decolonising global health in 2021: a roadmap to move from rhetoric to reform’ in BMJ Global Health.1 To our knowledge, under the decolonising global health umbrella, this is the first publication to make explicit how to move from theory to practice. However, we express concern over the prescriptive nature of this commentary, namely in its call for ‘metrics,’ ‘checklists,’ and a ‘map’—unironically all tactics that have been and are used by colonisers to assert violence. In this commentary, we directly respond to Khan et al and join the larger discussion on what it may mean for decolonising global health to move from theory to practice. First, we address the definition of decolonisation in decolonial thought, followed by the definition used by Khan et al. Second, we critically deconstruct the suggested “roadmap,” and conclude that these “reforms” will not realise the definition of decolonisation. Finally, we suggest conceptual frameworks that may be better suited to think through decolonisation in the global health industry.
BT - BMJ Global Health
DO - 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006371
IS - 7
LA - eng
N2 - In March 2021, Khan et al published a commentary titled ‘Decolonising global health in 2021: a roadmap to move from rhetoric to reform’ in BMJ Global Health.1 To our knowledge, under the decolonising global health umbrella, this is the first publication to make explicit how to move from theory to practice. However, we express concern over the prescriptive nature of this commentary, namely in its call for ‘metrics,’ ‘checklists,’ and a ‘map’—unironically all tactics that have been and are used by colonisers to assert violence. In this commentary, we directly respond to Khan et al and join the larger discussion on what it may mean for decolonising global health to move from theory to practice. First, we address the definition of decolonisation in decolonial thought, followed by the definition used by Khan et al. Second, we critically deconstruct the suggested “roadmap,” and conclude that these “reforms” will not realise the definition of decolonisation. Finally, we suggest conceptual frameworks that may be better suited to think through decolonisation in the global health industry.
PB - BMJ
PY - 2021
EP - e006371
T2 - BMJ Global Health
TI - Decolonising global health: beyond ‘reformative’ roadmaps and towards decolonial thought
UR - https://gh.bmj.com/content/bmjgh/6/7/e006371.full.pdf
VL - 6
SN - 2059-7908
ER -