Voices of Decolonial Feminist Psychology

Introduction

You may have a handle on what feminist psychology is. And you may even have heard a lot about calls to “decolonize psychology.” But what happens when you put “decolonial,” “feminist,” and “psychology” together? This exhibit invites you to explore the rich, complex, and intimate work that emerges at the intersection of these intellectual and activist traditions.

In this exhibit, we highlight how central gender is to colonialism, the role of feminism in dismantling its ongoing effects, and what it means to do decolonial feminist work in psychology. Through in-depth oral history interviews, we highlight the lives and contributions of prominent decolonial feminists who are reshaping what psychology can be—and do—when it centers questions of power, history, and liberation.

Feminist psychology attends to how gender, race, class, and sexuality shape psychological experience. Decolonial thought takes this notion further, tracing how these axes of difference are rooted in colonial histories. But what does this look like in practice? What does it mean to do decolonial feminist work in psychology?

To address these questions, we turn to the people doing this important work. Across these oral history interviews, we asked interviewees to reflect on their personal academic journeys, the experiences that have shaped their intellectual commitments, and their hopes for decolonial futures.