Beginning in the 1940s, countries in Asia and Africa began to liberate themselves from direct and indirect Western rule. The process was broadly termed “decolonization” by witnesses and historians alike. In an extraordinary twist, this simple word used to describe a major fact of modern history — one that is vital to a majority of the world’s population — is now being demonized by US elites, just when the West can least afford such willful ignorance.

In humanities departments across the US, scholars have long argued that disparities of power exist not only between the Global North and South; they have stressed the need for decolonization in cultural and intellectual realms as well. And they have elaborated theories connecting their endeavour to domestic racial justice movements, such as the civil rights movement and Black Lives Matter.