Shariati and Alatas: Intellectual Decolonization

What is it about?

The dramatic impact of ‘cultural colonization’ translated itself through the belief amongst the natives that the colonized would collapse and fall back into, in Fanon’s words, ‘degradation and bestiality’ if they ceased utilizing white men’s knowledge and resources. As the result, many non-westerners began imbibing Western resources, hence Westernism. As opposed to this, traditionalism emerged and encouraged going back to tradition to discard the West. However, there was a conspicuous dearth of creativity and originality in both of them. This paper attempts an exploration of a ‘third way’ in decolonization by drawing upon Shariati’s ‘homeless intellectual’ and Alatas’ ‘captive mind

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Why is it important?

This chapter shows how Shariati and Alatas, as two spokespersons of intellectual decolonization, choose the dialogue over confrontation with the West. Unlike decolonization which is a process of confrontation, the relationship between intellectual decolonization and colonialism/imperialism is a dialogical process, since in this way the voices of both the colonized and the colonizers carry equal weight.