Language, epistemology, and the politics of knowledge production

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-153
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi ◽  
Constantine Petridis

Abstract Mapping Senufo: Art, Evidence, and the Production of Knowledge – an in-progress, collaborative, born-digital publication – will offer a model for joining theories about the construction of identities and the politics of knowledge production with research and publication practice. In this article, we examine how computational methods have led us to reframe research questions, reevaluate sources, and reimagine the form of a digital monograph. We also demonstrate how our use of digital technologies, attention to iteration, and collaborative mode of working have generated fresh insights into a corpus of arts identified as Senufo, the nature of evidence for art-historical research, and digital publication. We posit that the form of a digital publication itself can bring processes of knowledge construction to the fore and unsettle expectations of a tidy, authoritative narrative.


Author(s):  
Maxime Polleri

This article explores the similarities between a memoir and an ethnographic work. A memoir stands as an historical account written from personal knowledge. It is a form of writing that should resonate deeply within the heart of the anthropologist, whose very own specificity is to be, first and foremost, an ethnographer. That is, anthropologists are individuals full of (hi) stories, contingence, and subjectivity, who nevertheless struggle to bring “objective” accounts of what had happened under their eyes during fieldwork. I use this short comparative act as a jumping board to examine the politics of knowledge in the history of anthropological inquiry since the Enlightenment. More precisely, this comparison represents an opportunity to look at what is silently invested in the practices of ethnographical writing. In a brief discussion, I highlight the political implications that surround issues of knowledge production, expert voices, and translation amidst the discourse and narrative of anthropologists.


Author(s):  
Nathan Moyo ◽  
Jairos Gonye

This chapter theorises the politics of knowledge production in order to understand the ways in which Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) could be framed as bases for promoting transformative classroom practices in Zimbabwe. Doing so is necessary as the school curricula of many education systems in postcolonial Africa remain subservient to the Western European epistemology. The trope, transformative uncolonial learning, is employed in order to re-imagine an ethical pedagogy that could result in transformative classroom practices. The argument developed is that history and dance, as implicated in the politics of the black body, could be re-framed as the basis of ethical classroom practices. To achieve this, teachers need to embrace productive pedagogies that promote pluriversality of knowledges as valid and legitimate school knowledge.


Author(s):  
Albert J. Mills

Purpose – A focus on the socio-politics of qualitative research and, given the space available, to raise more questions than answers. In other words, the author wants to be more speculative then definitive. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is grounded in a sociology of knowledge approach known as ANTi-History. Findings – The development of qualitative methods is grounded in the socio-politics of knowledge production. Research limitations/implications – The focus chosen – ANTi-History – is selected in exclusion to other potential approaches. Practical implications – To encourage researchers to include socio-politics in understanding the production of qualitative research methods. Social implications – Identification of the socio-politics that underlie qualitative approaches. Originality/value – The paper is rooted in a developing approach to the socio-politics of knowledge of the past.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-426
Author(s):  
Alexie Labelle

Since its academic introduction in the late 1980s, the concept of intersectionality has made a staple contribution to feminist scholarship. However, its institutionalised popularity and apparent depoliticisation have led scholars to raise two major concerns: the lack of a clearly defined intersectional methodology; and the erasure of black women scholars in intersectionality scholarship, particularly in the discipline of political science. While the latter rightly addresses epistemology and the politics of knowledge production, the former has lacked a thorough discussion on the ways in which epistemology impacts intersectional methodology, focusing instead on methods and method choice. Drawing on my own experience studying lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and queer people of colour activism in Canada, I argue that we need to bring epistemology into intersectional methodology. Hence, this article demonstrates how reflecting on one’s positionality, one’s embodiment of privileges and one’s ethical responsibilities informs the ways in which researchers operationalise intersectional projects, thereby shaping methodology.


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