Decolonization of Post-Soviet Higher Education: Critical Inquiry Through a Reflexive Scholarly Dialogue

Abstract

This study probes a format of reflexive scholarly dialogue (RSD) to enhance critical inquiry for exploration and validation of dilemmas of postcolonialism in the post-soviet environments where coloniality is debatable and politicized. In this article, the RSD is conducted by two professors, located in different countries and cultures (Ukraine and Georgia) but sharing similar postcolonial experiences. Anatoly Oleksiyenko and Giorgi Tavadze reflect on what it means to decolonize themselves and their scholarship from the imperial discourse propagated by the Kremlin. They try to understand what de-Sovietization contributes to thinking and communication inter-ethnically and internationally. Re-examining their own experiences, Oleksiyenko and Tavadze delve into several issues that are essential for advancing critical thinking and discourse in this area of research: that is, the problems of coping with Russian propaganda and anti-westernization; critical inquiry into the purposes of de-Sovietization; and the future of decolonization and transformations of learning and inquiry in the post-soviet spaces of higher education. While developing RSD as a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary instrument, the authors seek opportunities to problematize the prevalent concepts and approaches in postcolonial and decolonial studies in global higher education.