Rotten from all that came before? How interest convergence has informed and usurped initiatives for racial progress in the UK

Jens Klots; Uche Ogwude

doi:10.3389/feduc.2025.1560504

Rotten from all that came before? How interest convergence has informed and usurped initiatives for racial progress in the UK

Jens Klots^*, Uche Ogwude

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This discussion paper examines how British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) approach anti-racist and decolonial initiatives through the lens of Interest Convergence (IC). It highlights how institutional actions, largely sparked by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in 2020, align with existing neoliberal and capitalist priorities—therefore limiting their transformative potential. While efforts to participate in the Race Equality Charter (REC) and decolonise the curriculum have gained traction, they are often implemented in ways that fail to properly address systemic inequalities. Finally, a case is made for ritual theory as a potential vehicle to educate staff and students about IC, as ritualised activities can promote community building and wider cultural change.

Original language	English
Article number	1560504
Number of pages	7
Journal	Frontiers in Education
Volume	10
Early online date	9 Apr 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1560504
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 9 Apr 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2025 Klots and Ogwude. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in
accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Keywords

decolonisation
anti-racism
race equality charter
critical race theory
ritual theory
interest convergence

Access to Document

10.3389/feduc.2025.1560504Licence: CC BY 4.0

Rotten from all that came before
Copyright © 2025 Klots and Ogwude. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Final published version, 240 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

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title = "Rotten from all that came before? How interest convergence has informed and usurped initiatives for racial progress in the UK",

abstract = "This discussion paper examines how British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) approach anti-racist and decolonial initiatives through the lens of Interest Convergence (IC). It highlights how institutional actions, largely sparked by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in 2020, align with existing neoliberal and capitalist priorities—therefore limiting their transformative potential. While efforts to participate in the Race Equality Charter (REC) and decolonise the curriculum have gained traction, they are often implemented in ways that fail to properly address systemic inequalities. Finally, a case is made for ritual theory as a potential vehicle to educate staff and students about IC, as ritualised activities can promote community building and wider cultural change.",

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Rotten from all that came before? How interest convergence has informed and usurped initiatives for racial progress in the UK

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

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