#decolonizing science

Abstract

The legacy of colonialism pervades anatomical science, shaping the way bodies are categorized, classified, and understood. This chapter explores the intersections between coloniality, sex, gender, and anatomy, critically examining how anatomical knowledge has been historically constructed to reinforce binary sex and gender systems. By tracing the historical links between anatomy and colonial power, this chapter highlights the ways in which anatomical science has been used to justify racial and gender hierarchies, enforce normative frameworks, and marginalize non-Western epistemologies. Furthermore, it calls for the decolonization of anatomical education, offering strategies to challenge entrenched biases and develop more inclusive and critical pedagogical approaches. The chapter argues that true decolonization requires not only curriculum reform but also broader institutional and material changes that acknowledge and dismantle the colonial legacies of anatomical science.

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2. Original field study by Wallace from Borneo, 1855 [Alfed Russel Wallace Memorial Fund CC BY-NC-SA 4.0]

Published illustration in Wallace's book _The Malay archipelago : the land of the Orang-Utan, and the bird of paradise : a narrative of travel, with studies of man and nature_, 1869, p. 60. Engraving by John Gerrard Keulemans after an original drawing by Wallace. [BHL/CC-0]

Excerpt from Wallace's book The Malay Archipelago p. 59: “One of the most curious and interesting reptiles which I met with in Borneo was a large tree-frog, which was brought me by one of the Chinese workmen. He assured me that he had seen it come down, in a slanting direction, from a high tree, as if it flew."