Evaluating Decolonial Authors from a Marxist-Leninist Perspective

[THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON REDDIT IN R/TankieTheDeprogram ON THE 10TH OF JANUARY 2026]

Hey guys,

I wanted to open up a Marxist (and actually leftist) discussion on the topics of decoloniality, decolonial authors, and decolonial academia more generally. Specifically, I am interested in whether decolonial theory and decolonial academics are politically useful for Marxists, or whether they function as an ideological dead end.

I avoided posting this in the critical theory sub because that space is very libbed up.

As you may already be aware of not all forms of decoloniality are Marxist.

Anyways I hope the questions I provided can open up a discussion on it, you can also add separate discussion points below. This Post should help Marxist and non-Marxist foster a better understanding of an actual leftist perspective of decoloniality.

Discussion questions:

• Are decolonial academics genuinely contributing to anti-imperialist struggle, or are they using “decoloniality” as an academic smokescreen/vanity?
• Do academics monopolize discourse while detaching colonialism from capitalism?
• In some cases, does decolonial academia end up silencing the proletariat, and silence Marxist voices?
• What are your thoughts on decoloniality?
• What would an actual Marxist approach to decoloniality look like (both academic and in the IRL liberation movements)?

I would also love to hear people’s thoughts on the following decolonial authors (and feel free to add others):

• Frantz Fanon
• Walter Rodney
• Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò
• Walter Mignolo (I am aware he is not a Marxist. This might be a good case study for how decoloniality can become politically harmful)

I made an earlier post touching on this topic and postcolonialism, which you can find on both Reddit and Lemmygrad:

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TankieTheDeprogram/comments/1p51r8t/discussion_decoloniality_and_postcolonialism_in/

Lemmygrad: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/9854938