Postcolonial Scholarship in Social Justice Research

Abstract

In social justice research postcolonial theory is applied in similar ways to its use as a methodology in historical analysis, discussed by Allender in Chapter 13. Social justice research spans a range of social science disciplines including: social policy, social work, political inquiry and sociology. Although using similar ideas and principles, and drawing on some of the same key postcolonial thinkers as the post-colonial project in historical analysis, social justice research applications of post-colonial theory are part of a different project derived from a different canon of post-colonial scholars. This canon mostly comprises feminist scholars interested in the relationship between race, nation and gender, often sharing the central social justice aim of eliminating gender inequality. In demonstrating how postcolonial research methodology is used in social justice research, some key scholars that have influenced policy analysis into the domains of international poverty policy and gender and poverty, as well as potential applications in the local context, are discussed.