Decolonizing Through Public History – Introduction

Abstract

Decolonization is the subject of an abundant literature, both as a historical event and as a contemporary process. In relations with the past, debates have risen about issues such as colonial monuments, museum collections, and repatriation. Rather than dealing with a specific type of space, institution, or material, this special issue in International Public History offers a discussion on the many links between decolonization and public history. The articles explore if and to what extent public history practices can contribute to decolonizing the history production process (through decolonized sources, decolonized interpretation processes, and decolonized space of communication of history). The articles discuss what ‘public’ in ‘public history’ means: who is doing history, for whom, with whom, and for what? The self-reflective approach of public history also questions the colonial bias and processes at stake in institutions such as archives, museums, and universities. The special issue includes contributions from various countries (South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Canada, and Japan) to foster discussions on the plurality of links between public history and decolonization in an international context that goes beyond the too-often Western oriented public history frameworks.