The “Winds of Change” Blew in Many Directions: Decolonization, Dissent, and Opposition

In September 2023, a group of scholars gathered to discuss histories of decolonization, and particularly histories of dissent and opposition in the aftermath of political independence. This roundtable, and the broader special section of which it is part, places “decolonization's discontents” at the center of the postindependence narrative(s) to better understand the limitations of the postcolonial state and anti-colonial politics; to explore both continuities and ruptures in forms of mobilization and knowledge production during the transition from the colonial to the postcolonial; and ultimately to understand how decolonization as first and foremost a claim for political independence evolved into decolonization as a means of producing social, political, and economic change and justice within and across state boundaries. The roundtable's contributors each bring different perspectives to bear on the relationship between decolonization and opposition. Each contributor's work is rooted in area studies—South Asia, Southeast Asia, North Africa, East Africa, the Middle East—while also engaging in broader debates about the nature of postcolonial (nation-)state building. Together, their responses reveal the utility of “decolonization” as a historical framework, moving beyond area studies, that helps draw out similarities and differences across varied regional and temporal landscapes.