Multiculturalism put to the test of post/decolonial epistemologies

Multiculturalism is connected to the colonial past in many ways, even though this connection is not necessarily immediate. On the one hand, it can be considered a legacy of ‘colonial administration’, with economic, infrastructural, political and administrative consequences for countries that subsequently became independent states. On the other hand, multiculturalism cannot be fully understood, in all its potential and current difficulties, without taking into account the cultural and symbolic heritage of colonial past. The chapter discusses the role that postcolonial and decolonial thought – and more specifically post- and decolonial epistemologies – can have in framing the meanings of multiculturalism today. Moreover, the post/decolonial gaze, by shedding light on the western, modern and colonial genealogy of the very idea of multiculturalism, carries out a more overarching reflection on the need for a pluralistic and perspectival stance in social sciences.