ABSTRACT
Postcolonialism focused in its critique of colonialism and its continued resilience in contemporary social arrangements, and it is unruly in its eclectic use of diverse ideas and methodologies in accomplishing its goals. The sheer diversity of voices and perspectives that constitute postcolonialism warns us against regarding it as a monolithic or unitary tradition. Postcolonialism is extraordinarily relevant to management and organization studies and consumer research because it offers an alternative historical explanation for many commonplace business and marketing practices that have their origins in colonial structures. The chapter considers forerunners to the postcolonial tradition and its own emergence as a serious intellectual position in both Western and non-Western academia. Postcolonialism simultaneously shares much with and differs from the post-modern and poststructuralist traditions. The cultural impact of colonialism is also of particular interest to the post-colonial tradition. A unifying thread running through the postcolonial tradition is its opposition to and critique of Eurocentrism.
