“Decolonizing academia” in Norway after #RhodesMustFall

Abstract

Compared with the student initiated #RhodesMustFall in South Africa, the public debate on “decolonizing academia” in Norway was mainly a debate among faculty. Most voices opposed the need of such a movement in an anti-colonial and social democracy like Norway. This article first demonstrates Norway’s former colonial complicity, both outside and inside Norway. While official Norway recognises its internal colonial past (towards the indigenous Sámi peoples) and its multicultural presence (due to immigration), official Norway still refuses to admit Norwegian participation in any form of external, imperialistic colonisation. Then, finding that only five out of 443 texts on the curriculum in social sciences at Norwegian teacher’s education were written by authors connected to the Global South, and that five out of nine teacher education programs in Norway was not represented by a single author from the Global South, this article examines Norway’s colonial complicity and argues that “decolonizing academia” is highly relevant.