Exploring the Internationalization of Zimbabwe’s Higher Education Institutions Through a Decolonial Lens: Postcolonial Continuities and Disruptions

Abstract

Looking through the history of higher education in Zimbabwe, we argue that the concept of internationalization of higher education is not new to Zimbabwe. Understandings, manifestations, and processes of the phenomenon over time are examined to reveal the nuances of the internationalization process in its current mode of occurrence, in an attempt to not only understand it in its colonial and postcolonial manifestation but to situate it within a wider decolonial project. Using a decolonial lens, this article explores various processes of internationalization in Zimbabwe’s higher education institutions (HEIs), viewing them either as continuities or disruptions. In so doing, we argue that for internationalization in Zimbabwe’s HEIs to fully deliver on its promises, it needs to not only engage with the issues of colonial(ism/ity) but also to understand its particular specificity in the Zimbabwean society, and the effects that this continues to have on internationalization attempts.