Introduction to Special Collection on Decolonizing Education in Global Health

Abstract

At the heart of the decolonization of global health process lies critical analysis of the interdependent matrices of power dynamics. As characterized by the articles presented in this Special Collection, deep reform of global health can take the form of shifts in leadership structures, priority setting processes, knowledge/cognitive paradigms, power dynamics, financial arrangements, curricular innovation, and policy changes in research, education, and practice. The curation process of this Special Collection was designed to represent diverse geographies, scales, stakeholders, and themes within the decolonizing global health conversation. The unique perspectives of scholars representing the fields of pharmacy, physiotherapy, medicine, nursing, social work, law, public health, sociology, and bioethics are included in the collection. The premise of the Special Collection is the understanding that meaningful progress toward decolonization must come from within the institutions that built the field of global health in the first place, and doing so will require deep reflection on the role different disciplines - working both alone and collaboratively - can and should play to advance decolonization.

Figure 1

Coloniality, professional practice, and its impact on communities.

Figure 2

Publications per year on Decolonization and Health. The Scopus database was used to retrieve documents in peer-reviewed journals. Search strategy TITLE-ABS-KEY (health) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY(decoloni* OR neocoloni*).