Paleoanthropology: Decolonizing and Building for the Future
Sheela Athreya
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Texas A&M University, United States
Search for more papers by this authorWendy Black
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Iziko Museums of South Africa, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorRobyn Humphreys
University of Cape Town, South Africa
University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorLauren Schroeder
University of Cape Town, South Africa
University of Toronto, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorSheela Athreya
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Texas A&M University, United States
Search for more papers by this authorWendy Black
University of Cape Town, South Africa
Iziko Museums of South Africa, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorRobyn Humphreys
University of Cape Town, South Africa
University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Search for more papers by this authorLauren Schroeder
University of Cape Town, South Africa
University of Toronto, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The study of human evolution, also known as palaeoanthropology, focuses on our distant and more recent human past; what shaped us as a lineage, genus, and species; and how we came to be the diverse single species we are today. However, the bulk of this research, knowledge production, and understanding has been driven by the global North to the exclusion of non-Western scientists, despite the deep and rich fossil record of formerly colonized regions (Africa, Australia, South and Southeast Asia, North/South America), maintaining a neocolonial dynamic to this day. Coloniality manifests itself in paleoanthropology in multiple ways: who conducts research, who gets recognition and reward, whose voices and worldviews get centered in paleoanthropological models, what is considered to constitute scientific knowledge, where fossil/archaeological material is housed and curated, and who controls access to these collections. This entry explores these manifestations of coloniality, offering corrective practices.
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