ABSTRACT
This chapter explores issues around western-centrism within art history, the impact of postcolonialism and responses to globalisation within art and art history. It considers different dimensions of postcolonial theories and globalisation, and how these relate to recent developments within the discipline. The chapter outlines Foucault's theories concerning the control of knowledge and societal power strategies; postcolonial studies have drawn upon these approaches to explore subliminal attitudes to non-western cultures and the underlying power dynamic of imperial hegemony. It discusses some of the dimensions, debates and contingencies of globalisation and postcolonialism. Postcolonialism and globalisation initiated extensive debates across art history, through the 1990s and 2000s, interrogating the nature of western-centrism within the discipline. The debate on challenges of globalisation, decoloniality and postcolonialism on art history methods continues. The chapter explores concepts and themes concerning postcolonialism and globalisation. Postcolonialism is the response of academics and activists to past and present western colonial hegemony, in pursuit of an ethical and equitable future.
