Professor Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni
Affiliations
Full Professor and Canada Research Chair (CRC) Tier 1 in Pluralistic Societies: Epistemic Pluralism and Ecologies of Knowledges
Contact information
Phone number
Cell: +14033909738
Location
Department of History: Social Science Building536, 5th Floor
Preferred method of communication
I prefer to be contacted by email: sjndlovugatsheni@gmail.com or
sabelo.ndlovugatshen@ucalgary.ca
Background
Educational Background
PhD History, University of Zimbabwe, 2004
MA African History, University of Zimbabwe, 1995
BA Hons History, University of Zimbabwe, 1992
PGDE Tertiary Teaching, University of the Witwatersrand, 2008
Biography
I am Full Professor of History and Canada Research Chair ((CRC) Tier 1in Pluralistic Societies: Epistemic Pluralism and Ecologies of Knowledges at the University of Calgary. My work focuses on epistemic freedom, decolonial thought, African Studies, African history, and building pluriversal societies – spaces that recognize, legitimize, and enable the interaction of multiple ways of knowing and being in the world. This approach is closely linked to ecologies of knowledges through the decolonization of knowledge systems and the advancement of epistemologies of the Global South.
Before joining the University of Calgary, I served as Full Professor and Chair of Epistemologies of the Global South (with Emphasis on Africa) and Vice-Dean of Research in the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Prior to that, I held senior academic and research leadership positions at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria, South Africa, where I facilitated and led in the institutionalization of decolonial scholarship and mentored emerging African researchers. At UNISA, I also served as Director of Scholarship Transformation based in the office of the Principal and Vice-Chancellor, founding Head of the Archie Mafeje Research Institute for Applied Social Policy (AMRI), and established the Africa Decolonial Research Network (ADERN)as catalytic force to advance decolonization of institutions and knowledge. I am a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
Earlier in my career, I taught at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare, and Midlands State University in Gweru, Zimbabwe, at Monash University (South Africa Campus), and The Open University (UK). My academic affiliations also include appointments as Professor Extraordinarius at UNISA and the University of the Free State, Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg, and Research Associate at The Open University (UK).
I have authored or edited more than twenty-five books and over a hundred peer-reviewed publications. My work engages with the works of decolonial thinkers from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, and with epistemologies of the Global South, reflecting the relational, plural, and dialogical ethos of decolonial thought while emphasizing epistemic freedom, ecologies of knowledges, and pluriversality.
My recent publications include Global Storms and Africa in World Politics: Contemporary Challenges and Decolonial Responses (Springer, 2025), co-edited with Gorden Moyo, and The SAGE Handbook of Decolonial Theory (SAGE, 2025), co-edited with Jairo I. Fúnez-Flores and colleagues. My article “Epistemic Freedom: Itineraries of a Concept” (Special Issue: The Thinker, 2025), co-edited with Walter D. Mignolo, traces the development of epistemes of domination and articulates epistemic freedom as a framework for resisting colonial knowledge domination.
Selected earlier works include Beyond the Coloniality of Internationalism (CODESRIA, 2024), Language and Decolonisation (Routledge, 2024) co-edited with Finex Ndhlovu, Marxism and Decolonization in the 21st Century(Routledge, 2021) co-edited with Morgan Ndlovu, Decolonization, Development and Knowledge in Africa (Routledge, 2020), Epistemic Freedom in Africa (Routledge, 2018), and The Ndebele Nation (UNISA Press & Rozenberg/SAVUSA, 2009).
Projects
As Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Pluralistic Societies: Epistemic Pluralism and Ecologies of Knowledges, I am developing a research program that seeks to advance epistemic pluralism, foster inclusive and relational ecologies of knowledges, and build pluriversal societies. This work focuses on transforming higher education, supporting African and Global South futures, and creating knowledge systems that are just, sustainable, and oriented toward 21st-century global challenges.
Awards
- University of Zimbabwe Book Prize, University of Zimbabwe. 1992
- Certificate of Excellence in Teraching, Monash University. 2007
- Restitution Award, Restitution Foundation of South Africa. 2017
- Life Achievers Award & Certificate of Recognition for Exceptional, Remarkable & Outstanding Work in Research & Publication, Civic Leadership and Community Service , Public Policy & Research Institute of Zimbabwe (PPRIZ). 2024
- Ten Leading Thinkers on Decolonial Thinking for Emancipation, Le Monde Afrique. 2016
- Vice-Chancellor's Prize for Research Excellence , University of South Africa. 2014
- Ali A. Mazrui Award for Scholarship and Research Excellence, Toyin Falola International Conference on Africa & the Diaspora (TOFAC). 2015
- Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), Academy of Science of South Africa. 2013
Publications
- African Decolonial Theory: A Conversation. Patricia Delay, Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni et al. Antipode: Journal of Radical Geography, 58(2). 2-68. (2026)
- Epistemic Freedom: Itineraries of a Concept. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. The Thinker: A Pan-African Quarterly , 104(3). 68-76. (2025)
- On the African Utopic Registers of the Future. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Utopian Studies, 30(2). 400-415. (2025)
- Ten Challenges in Reconfiguring African Studies. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Review of African Political Economy. 1-19. (2023)
- Intellectual Imperialism and Decolonization of African Studies. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Third World Quarterly. 1-18. (2023)
- Decolonizing Knowledge : Reflections from Africa. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Sociologus: Journal of Social Anthropology, 72(1). 3-31. (2021)
- Beyond the Colonixzer's Model of the World: Towards Worlding from the Global South. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Third World Quarterly. 1-18. (2023)
- Turmoil and Tremblement in the World of Knowledge: Towards Epistemic Revolution. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Bloomsbury Publishing. 432. (2026)
- Beyond the Coloniality of Internationalism: Rewording the World from the Global South. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. CODESRIA Book Series. 340. (2024)
- Decolonization, Development and Knowledge in Africa: Turning Over A New Leaf. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Routledge. 256. (2016)
- Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Routledge. 345. (2018)
- The Decolonial Mandela: Peace, Justice and the Politics of Life. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Berghahn Book. 200. (2016)
- Empire, Global Coloniality and African Subjectivity. Berghahn Books. 320. (2013)
- Coloniality of Power in Postcolonial Africa: Myths of Decolonization: Second Edition. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. CODESRIA Book Series. 370. (2022)
- Do Zimbabweans Exist? Trajectories of Nationalism, National Identity Formation, and Crisis in a Postcolonial State. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Peter Lang AG International Academic Publishers. (2009)
- The Ndebele Nation: Reflections on Hegemony, Memory and Historiography. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Rozenburg Publishers & UNISA Press. 290. (2009)
- African Studies Now: Critical Approaches to Radicalization and Identity in Francophone Africa. Eric Essono Tsimi, Andrea Behrands, and Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni (eds). Bloomsbury Publishing. 230. (2025)
- Decrypting Justice: From Epistemic Violence to Immanent Democracy. Ricardo Sanin-Restrepo, Marinella Machado-Araujo, and Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni (eds). Bloomsbury Publishing. 320. (2025)
- SAGE Handbook of Decolonial Theory. Jairo I. Funez-Flores, Ana Carolina Diaz Beltran, Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sandeep Baskshi, Augustin Lao-Montes, and Flavia Rios (eds.). SAGE. 760. (2025)
- Language and Decolonization: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Finex Ndhlovu and Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni (eds). Routledge. (2024)
- Knowing-Unknowing: African Studies at Crossroads. Katharina Schramm and Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni. Brill Publishers. (2024)
- Marxism and Decolonization in the 21st Century: Living Theories and True Ideas. Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni and Morgan Ndlovu (eds.). Routledge. 406. (2021)
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