Alternation Special Edition 24 (2019) 104 - 121 104 Print ISSN 1023-1757; Electronic ISSN: 2519-5476; DOI https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2019/sp24.2a5 Love in the Time of Decoloniality 1 Nuraan Davids Abstract The most recent student protests have yet again echoed calls for ‘decolonisation’. In reaction, much has been offered by way of responses in terms of decolonising curricula, knowledge, and spaces. Now that the proverbial dust has settled (somewhat), it is necessary to cast some much needed attention on what exactly is understood by decolonisation, and indeed, whether the bull has actually been taken by its horns. The concern of this article is twofold. In the first instance, it troubles commonly accepted conceptions of decolonisation, and makes an argument for decoloniality instead. In the second instance, by reconsidering understandings of decoloniality, I make a case for a decoloniality of love, as a form of rupturing. Keywords: decoloniality, coloniality, decolonisation, colonialism, higher education Introduction Mamdani (2016: 69) is of the opinion that although most writings on the African university begin by acknowledging a list of premodern institutions as precursors to the modern African university, neither the institutional form nor the curricular content of the modern African university is derived from precolonial institutions. Instead, he maintains their inspiration is the colonial modern. Mamdani’s (2016) view might be contestable, if one thinks about the 1 In acknowledgement of Gabriel Garcia Mȧrquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera (1985).