Addressing colonialism and coloniality in postcolonial socialist contexts

Abstract

This paper explores how colonialism and coloniality were addressed in educational media during the Cold War period. Beginning with the October Revolution, the ideological point of reference of state socialism had been the grand narrative of overcoming both imperialism and colonialism as a prescription and justification for the socialist path of development. In the latter half of the twentieth century said narrative was significant in our different cases. While the German Democratic Republic saw itself as a country of realised socialism, in the case of Mozambique one could speak of aspired socialism, and in the case of Nicaragua of socialist orientation. The paper deepens our understanding of representations and interpretations of colonialism and coloniality within educational media in these dissimilar scenarios. We identify these specific references to the socialist grand narrative as decisive for central national narratives and state-building processes in the contexts of the GDR, Mozambique, and Nicaragua.