Something important to understand about the limits of reform is that liberalism operates off of a central premise: NEGOTIATION. The representatives that you elect to office are supposed to represent the interests of the people & instead they NEGOTIATE your rights away. As a Nkrumah Toureist I do not believe that ANY person’s humanity is up for NEGOTIATION. The spectrum of political ideals is easily understood through the frame of negotiation & the status quo. These are structural issues in the sense that they operate no matter the person or charismatic personality. It operates is against the interests of the masses & instead in the interest of maintaining existing rules about behavior & institutions. 

“For in reform, fundamental principles are held constant & the details of their expression modified. In the words of Marx, it leaves the pillars of the building intact.”   – Kwame Nkrumah, “Consciencism” 

So liberals WILL negotiate with Nazis bc they’ve BEEN negotiating with them. This is why we really have to change our language & understanding around “normalizing white supremacy” fam…white supremacy IS the NORM though. A norm is a rule about behavior. White supremacy as a system & racial typology provides our rules about behavior, values, & beliefs. Acting like our current society doesn’t socialize its members to follow the rules of white supremacy doesn’t make sense at all. If you want be prepared for the next face of the settler empire I suggest you abandon the need to ignore this nation’s history. 

“One can compromise over program, but not over principle. Any compromise over principle is the same as an abandonment of it.”- Kwame Nkrumah

How does this understanding connect to decolonizing science? It is a great guide to help us understand whether or not the set of actions an individual, group, or institution are taking will actually lead to structural change. This can also be a useful metric for designing scientific projects that will scholars claim will benefit society. What kind of solution is being offered to address the social problem? How is the project highlighting the dynamics of the social problem? Considering the ways that reform works, we can expect a series of outcomes that are primarily beneficial to individuals but not change the structure. How can we think of ways to move beyond reformist scientific work?