scholarly journals Northern philosophies and professional neocolonialism in occupational therapy: a historical review and critique

Author(s):  
Steven D. Taff ◽  
Lauren Putnam

ABSTRACT In this article, the authors conduct a historical review of recent philosophies influencing the Occupational Therapy profession in the United States (analytic philosophy and Continental varieties such as neopragmatism). Four philosophical categories are explored: epistemology, axiology, ontology, and praxis. The dominant strand of analytic philosophy is characterized by reductionist views of knowledge and reality, with little sustained attention to ethics and practical action. Competing but lesser recognized Continentally-inspired philosophies offer a critical and more phenomenological approach which values human subjectivities, narratives, and social agency. The authors argue that the dominance of analytic philosophy has created the intellectual foundations for neoliberalism to thrive and permeate the profession of Occupational Therapy in its curricula, practice models, reimbursement systems, and research agenda. As this Northern (United States) version of Occupational Therapy expands globally, the danger exists for professional neocolonialism to occur which can negatively influence or contradict more local ways of knowing and doing. The article concludes by offering strategies to unmask, disentangle, and dismantle Occupational Therapy from its Northern roots towards wider acceptance of Southern epistemologies, ethics, and collective action.

Hypatia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-409
Author(s):  
Beaudelaine Pierre

AbstractI write this essay from a place of thirst, discontent, dream; from being housed in the United States but not at home there; from thinking through this writing in English, a language that is not home; and from wanting to continue making a place that is not home. I think through this inquiry from a place of cohabitation with Western ways of knowing that have purposefully demonized peoples of African descent as less than human; from the tradition of Haitian thinkers and resurgents who emphasize spirituality as crucial to recreating themselves endlessly; and from imagining the unseen, unfelt, and invisible powers that illuminate the process. In this place of feverishness, I sit with Haitian writer and singer Mimerose Beaubrun's monograph Nan Dòmi in order to consider the possibilities and impossibilities that might be realized through a practice of decolonial labor that bridges the known and the unknown, the seen and the unseen, the metaphysical and the material. Taking inspiration from María Lugones's phenomenological approach of decoloniality and Beaubrun's theory of nan dòmi (dream/ing), this essay asks: what in Beaubrun's Nan Dòmi opens decoloniality as a radical onto-epistemological terrain from which to rethink subjectivities, politics, and worlds in uneven and unjust geographies?


1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Nix ◽  
David E. Nix

This study reviews the literature and the practice of accounting for research and development (R&D) costs from the first reference in 1917 to the current treatment. The conceptual treatment of R&D is compared to current financial accounting rules and explanation of the evolution of the current rules is presented. The economic and social consequences of the current rules which require R&D costs to be expressed are examined. The paper explores possible alternative treatment of R&D costs. As a contrast to U.S. practice, the accounting treatment of R&D costs in other countries is discussed. Given the findings of this paper, a strong case can be made for changing the way that R&D costs are accounted for in the United States.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Kenyon ◽  
Jolein Laumen ◽  
Dorien Van Den Bossche ◽  
Christophe Van Dijck

Abstract Background Does the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae include the erasure of highly susceptible strains or does it merely involve a stretching of the MIC distribution? If it was the former this would be important to know as it would increase the probability that the loss of susceptibility is irreversible.Methods We conducted a historical analysis based on a literature review of changes of N. gonorrhoeae MIC distribution over the past 75 years for 3 antimicrobials (benzylpenicillin, ceftriaxone and azithromycin) in five countries (Denmark, Japan, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States).Results Changes in MIC distribution were most marked for benzylpenicillin and showed evidence of a right shifting of MIC distribution that was associated with a reduction/elimination of susceptible strains in all countries. In the case of ceftriaxone and azithromycin, where only more recent data was available, right shifting was also found in all countries but the extent of right shifting varied and the evidence for the elimination of susceptible strains was more mixed.Conclusions The finding of right shifting of MIC distribution combined with reduction/elimination of susceptible strains is concerning since it suggests that this shifting may not be reversible. Since excess antimicrobial consumption is likely to be responsible for this right shifting, this insight provides additional impetus to promote antimicrobial stewardship.


2001 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Salvatori

In the middle of the twentieth century, the role of occupational therapy assistant was introduced in North America. Although the role, utilization and training of assistant personnel have raised much controversy and debate within the profession, Canada and the United States have taken very different paths in terms of dealing with these issues. This paper focuses on the history of occupational therapy assistants in Canada, using the experience in the United States for comparison purposes. The occupational therapy literature and official documents of the professional associations are used to present a chronology of major historical events in both countries. Similarities and differences emerge in relation to historical roots; training model and standards of education; certification, regulation, and standards of practice; career laddering and career mobility; and professional affiliation. The paper concludes with a summary of issues which require further exploration, debate and resolution if the profession is to move forward in Canada.


2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 178-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Verdine Donoso Brown ◽  
Jaime Phillip Muñoz ◽  
Janet M. Powell

Author(s):  
Aubrey Jean Hanson ◽  
Sam McKegney

Indigenous literary studies, as a field, is as diverse as Indigenous Peoples. Comprising study of texts by Indigenous authors, as well as literary study using Indigenous interpretive methods, Indigenous literary studies is centered on the significance of stories within Indigenous communities. Embodying continuity with traditional oral stories, expanding rapidly with growth in publishing, and traversing a wild range of generic innovation, Indigenous voices ring out powerfully across the literary landscape. Having always had a central place within Indigenous communities, where they are interwoven with the significance of people’s lives, Indigenous stories also gained more attention among non-Indigenous readers in the United States and Canada as the 20th century rolled into the 21st. As relationships between Indigenous Peoples (Native American, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) and non-Indigenous people continue to be a social, political, and cultural focus in these two nation-states, and as Indigenous Peoples continue to work for self-determination amid colonial systems and structures, literary art plays an important role in representing Indigenous realities and inspiring continuity and change. An educational dimension also exists for Indigenous literatures, in that they offer opportunities for non-Indigenous readerships—and, indeed, for readers from within Indigenous nations—to learn about Indigenous people and perspectives. Texts are crucially tied to contexts; therefore, engaging with Indigenous literatures requires readers to pursue and step into that beauty and complexity. Indigenous literatures are also impressive in their artistry; in conveying the brilliance of Indigenous Peoples; in expressing Indigenous voices and stories; in connecting pasts, presents, and futures; and in imagining better ways to enact relationality with other people and with other-than-human relatives. Indigenous literatures span diverse nations across vast territories and materialize in every genre. While critics new to the field may find it an adjustment to step into the responsibility—for instance, to land, community, and Peoplehood—that these literatures call for, the returns are great, as engaging with Indigenous literatures opens up space for relationship, self-reflexivity, and appreciation for exceptional literary artistry. Indigenous literatures invite readers and critics to center in Indigeneity, to build good relations, to engage beyond the text, and to attend to Indigenous storyways—ways of knowing, being, and doing through story.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Betts ◽  
Brian Delaney ◽  
Tamara Galoyan ◽  
William Lynch

In March 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted education worldwide. In the United States, the pandemic forced colleges and universities across the nation to adopt quickly emergency remote teaching and learning. The ability to pivot instruction seamlessly and effectively across learning formats (e.g., face-to-face, hybrid, online) while supporting student engagement, learning, and completion in an authentic and high-quality manner challenged higher education leaders. This historical review of the literature examines distance and online education from the 1700s to 2021 to identify how external and internal pressures and opportunities have impacted and influenced the evolution of educational formats pre-COVID-19, and how they will continue to evolve post pandemic. This historical review also explores how instructional design and pedagogy have been and continue to be influenced by technological advancements, emerging research from the Learning Sciences and Mind (psychology), Brain (neuroscience), and Education (pedagogy) science.


Slave No More ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 164-196
Author(s):  
Aline Helg

This chapter explores the shock waves caused by the Haitian Revolution and the massive slave insurrection that took both the Americas and Europe by surprise. Despite the rarity of large-scale revolts after 1794, the Saint Domingue insurrection did have a lasting impact on the slaves. The greatest lesson they retained from Haiti was that the institution of slavery was neither unchangeable nor invincible. Amid the troubled backdrop of the age of revolutions, many attentively followed the legal changes upsetting their owners, like the Spanish Códigno Negro, the French abolition of slavery, gradual emancipation laws in the northern United States, and the ban of the slave trade by Great Britain and the United States. Furthermore, after 1794, protests during which slaves claimed freedom they believed to have been decreed by the king or the government, but hidden by their masters, multiplied.


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