Abstract

This chapter is about the academic output in the form of the PhD thesis and the extent to which it has decolonized. The reasoning is that if the PhD is at the forefront of scientific inquiry, then an investigation of sociological theses is an investigation of the front line of sociological knowledge production. To this extent, to study the production of the PhD thesis is to get an insight into the workings and the politics of knowledge production in the academy. Thus, this study aims to provide a systematic and critical review of PhD theses in Sociology from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) from 2010 to 2021 in order to uncover key themes underlying the field, particularly the extent that decolonial discourses have permeated sociological knowledge production. The theoretical, methodological, and methods used have aided in attaining a systematic and rigorous insight into the theoretical foundations, themes, and emerging decolonial research within South African Sociology. The main research question guiding this study is the following: To what extent have PhD theses from the UJ Sociology Department between 2010 and 2021 decolonized?