Decolonization: A Framework to Understand and Trangress Adultism

There is growing body of scholarship that examines adultism through various methodologies and in a variety of settings, including labor, education, and society. In addition, studies of adultism increasingly recognize how this from of power intersects or is parallel with other forms of oppression. This research is generative for illuminating the various way in which adultism and other forms of power operate or contribute to limiting or exclusionary practices that young people face. However, how can we move away from discourses of liberal inclusivity toward social transformation? Why do the causes, effects, or outcomes of adultism from a critical perspective often fall short? What can decolonial thought offer to understandings of adultism? This essay proposes a de/colonization framework to advance understandings of adultism and center liberation. I argue that adultism and colonization are not separate but birthed in relation to one another. Furthermore, discourses on adultism that fail to seriously engage with de/colonization risk perpetuating the oppression that they attempt to challenge, trouble, or address.