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Speaker: Siseko H. Kumalo, Department of Philosophy, University of Fort Hare.

Decolonial theory is defined by a critique that responds to the power relations that characterise knowledge making. Resultantly, I pose two questions. First, whose knowledge should be counted as having more epistemic merit. Second, and as a derivative of the first, how does said knowledge acquire its epistemic authority, that subsequently compels us to regard this knowledge as superior?  These considerations lead me to the desire to transcend the critique methodology, in lieu of generative theses that are derived from my outlined methodology. Using the framework of political obligation to answer these questions suggests a decolonial methodology that is rooted in the Black Archive. My aims thus are twofold. In the first respect, I showcase the usefulness of the critique, which—in itself—puts forward theoretical propositions. In the second sense, I demonstrate how these give us theses that are only defensible when using the outlined methodology.

Keywords: Black Archive, Political Obligation, Knowledge Economy, Critique, Decolonial Methodology.