DECOLONIAL THOUGHT IN CHILDHOOD STUDIES: CRITICAL AND POST-CRITICAL EPISTEMOLOGIES¹

ABSTRACT:

The paper discusses how decolonial thinking appears in the database of childhood studies composed of dissertations, theses, and complete works of the Working Groups (GTs) presented at ANPEd National Meetings and scientific papers in Qualis A1 journals. This study is characterized as meta-research, that is, research on research in a field and/or area of study, and aims to indicate approaches, focuses, perspectives, and analytical models. The debate on the decolonization of research is followed by the presentation of 11 authors (0.48% of the production) who deal with decolonial thinking in a total of 2,246 cataloged works. As a result, the low presence of decolonial thinking in childhood studies is indicated and three thematic fields emerge for further research at the interface with critical and post-critical epistemologies: 1) critical decolonial thinking, childhoods and inequalities; 2) decolonial thinking, multiculturalism, childhoods and diversities; and 3) postcolonial thinking, post-critical paradigms and contemporary childhoods.

Keywords:
childhood studies; decolonial thinking; epistemologies