Special issue: Decolonizing Memory Studies, Reclaiming the Study of Memories

This introductory essay to the special issue Decolonizing Memory Studies, Reclaiming the Study of Memories critiques the persistent Euro-centric paradigms and epistemological hierarchies that dominate the field of Memory Studies. Drawing on insights from thinkers such as Toni Morrison, Merlinda Bobis, and Walter Mignolo, among others, the authors outline three central challenges for the discipline: exposing the limitations of dominant Western memory frameworks, integrating concepts from postcolonial and Indigenous scholarship, and practicing “epistemological disobedience.” The issue is structured across four thematic sections—Indigenous Concepts, Provincializing the West, Transitional Justice, and Memory Pedagogy. By centering grassroots-storytelling, embodied archives, and Indigenous cosmovisions—including concepts like Ubuntu/Hunhu and Agaciro—the contributors dismantle the normative authority of Western Europe in knowledge production. Ultimately, the introductory essay calls for provincializing, de-Westernizing, and uncolonizing the study of memory, advocating for transformative inclusivity, repair, and a holistic ecological relationality between humans, ancestors, and the Earth.