Postcolonialism offers challenging and provocative ways of thinking about colonial and neocolonial power, about self and other, and about the discourses that perpetuate postcoloninal inequality and violence. Much of the seminal work in postcolonialism has been shaped by currents in philosophy, notably Marxism and ethics. Understanding Postcolonialism examines the philosophy of postcolonialism in order to reveal the often conflicting systems of thought that underpin it. In so doing, the book presents a reappraisal of the major postcolonial thinkers of the twentieth century.