Written for students, journalists, practitioners and decision-makers, the entry responds to simplifying accounts of postcolonialism and discusses the main points of convergence and divergence between the fields of de-/postcolonial thought and peace and conflict studies. Using the current global political situation and the heated debates about ‘woke gender and postcolonial ideologies’ as a starting point, the first section of this entry outlines the broad field of postcolonial thought, highlighting three lines of argument. First, de-/postcolonial approaches deal with colonial continuities. Second, they form part of a broader movement to critically assess the impact of interests and standpoints on knowledge production, and to use language for the reconstitution of subjectivity, identity, and politics. Third, de-/postcolonial thought and practice are intrinsically linked to resistance in diverse forms. The second part section of this the entry turns to the field of peace and conflict studies and spells out how it connects to these three lines of arguments. The entry is an invitation to delve deeper into the field, and to think ahead.
