Multiculturalism put to the test of post/decolonial epistemologies

Multiculturalism is connected to the colonial past in many ways, even though this connection is not necessarily immediate. On the one hand, it can be con- sidered a legacy of ‘colonial administration’, with economic, infrastructural, po- litical and administrative consequences for countries that subsequently became independent states. On the other hand, multiculturalism cannot be fully under- stood, in all its potential and current difficulties, without taking into account the cultural and symbolic heritage of colonial past. The chapter discusses the role that postcolonial and decolonial thought – and more specifically post- and de- colonial epistemologies – can have in framing the meanings of multiculturalism today. Moreover, the post/decolonial gaze, by shedding light on the western, modern and colonial genealogy of the very idea of multiculturalism, carries out a more overarching reflection on the need for a pluralistic and perspectival stance in social sciences.