Abstract:
Recent debates on decolonizing global health have spurred interest in addressing the
power asymmetries and knowledge hierarchies that sustain colonial ideas and relationships
in global health research. This paper applies three intersecting dimensions of colonialism
(colonialism within global health; colonisation of global health; and colonialism through
global health) to develop a broader and more structural understanding of the policies and
actions needed to decolonise global health research. It argues that existing guidelines and
checklists designed to make global health research more equitable do not adequately
address the underlying power asymmetries and biases that prevail across the global health
research ecosystem. Beyond encouraging fairer partnerships within individual research
projects, this paper calls for more emphasis on shifting the balance of decision-making
power, redistributing resources, and holding research funders and other power-holders
accountable to the places and peoples involved in and impacted by global health research.
