Decolonization
Part of the Spaciology Field Guide, a collection of practical ways to bring Spaciology into relationships, leadership, community, teaching, and personal transformation.
Decolonization reframes space as storied and shaped by power, asking us to recognize whose knowledge has been centered, whose has been excluded, and what becomes possible when more ways of knowing are given room.
Examples of Space as Metaphor
Historical Space: Every space we enter carries the memory of those who came before. Their struggles, wisdom, decisions, and ways of knowing continue to shape what’s possible now.
Space for Difference: Decolonization means actively making room for knowledge and perspectives that have historically been overlooked, suppressed, or dismissed.
Contested Space: When different groups claim the same territory—physical or conceptual—whose history gets centered and whose gets erased?
Why This Matters
No space is neutral. Every organization, community, and relationship carries inherited patterns: who gets heard, whose ideas count, whose history is centered, and whose knowledge is treated as authoritative.
When we rely only on dominant frameworks, we narrow what the space can hold and what we are able to imagine. Decolonization asks us to examine those inherited patterns and expand whose knowledge, experience, and history help shape what happens next.
Practice It
Do a “history check” before new initiatives: Ask “Who has tried this before? What happened? Who was affected? Who wasn’t at the table?” This simple question can reveal histories and consequences that might otherwise remain invisible.
Examine the format, not just the agenda: Pay attention to how the structure of a gathering shapes participation. Who speaks first? Who speaks most? What forms of communication are valued? Experiment with formats that create different ways to participate, while being thoughtful about the origins and cultural context of practices you borrow.
Diversify whose voices you learn from: Actively seek out Indigenous authors, community voices, and non-Western frameworks when you’re reading, planning, or making decisions. Track this over three months: whose work are you actually reading and citing?
Make room for relationship and intention: Before moving immediately into tasks, invite people to reflect on why the work matters, what they bring to the space, and what they need from it. Pay attention to whether your usual ways of gathering leave room for relationship as well as productivity.
Name inherited assumptions: Periodically ask your group, “What are we taking for granted here? Whose worldview does this reflect? Who isn’t in the room, and how might they see this differently?”
You Need This When
- The same solutions keep failing the same people
- Certain voices are consistently missing from the table
- History feels irrelevant to current decisions
- Solutions feel disconnected from the people they’re meant to serve
- You’re working on land or with communities that have Indigenous histories
- Your “innovation” may already exist in another community or tradition
Ethical Cautions
Decolonization isn’t a one-time acknowledgment or a checklist. It requires sustained attention to history, power, relationship, and material consequences. Don’t extract Indigenous practices, language, or knowledge without context, relationship, consent, or appropriate reciprocity. Indigenous peoples and traditions are not a single perspective, so avoid treating “Indigenous wisdom” as one universal body of knowledge.
Be careful about using “decolonization” as a general metaphor for change or self-improvement. The term has specific histories connected to colonization, land, sovereignty, culture, and political power. When those realities are relevant, name them rather than reducing decolonization to a change in mindset.
Pairs Well With
- Care as Structure — to examine how participation is designed
- Active Receptivity — to listen before acting
- Accountability Over Accuracy — to repair when you get it wrong
- Rooted Decision-Making — to honor place and lineage
- Narrative Shift — to question whose stories dominate
