Of all the sins white Europeans are charged with by progressives, colonialism ranks highest. Expiation for their forebears’ crimes, through the process known as “decolonization,” has consequently emerged as a reigning passion in knowledge-producing institutions like universities and museums.

The word itself doesn’t convey its revolutionary essence: a pivot from an objective, evidence-based model of academic inquiry to one based in subjectivity and social justice. In the new paradigm, acceptance of theses and conclusions rests on their usefulness in advancing the interests of “oppressed” groups or, conversely, in further incriminating “oppressor” groups.