Cognitive justice

Last updated

The concept of cognitive justice is based on the recognition of the plurality of knowledge and expresses the right of the different forms of knowledge to co-exist. [1]

Contents

Indian scholar Shiv Visvanathan coined the term cognitive justice in his 1997 book "A Carnival for Science: Essays on science, technology and development". [2] Commenting on the destructive impact of hegemonic Western science on developing countries and non-Western cultures, Visvanathan calls for the recognition of alternative sciences or non-Western forms of knowledge. He argues that different knowledges are connected with different livelihoods and lifestyles and should therefore be treated equally.

Cognitive justice is a critique on the dominant paradigm of modern science [3] and promotes the recognition of alternative paradigms or alternative sciences by facilitating and enabling dialogue between, often incommensurable, knowledges. These dialogues of knowledge are perceived as contributing to a more sustainable, equitable, and democratic world.

The call for cognitive justice is found in a growing variety of fields, such as ethnobiology, [4] technology and database design, [5] and in information and communication technology for development (ICT4D). [6]

South-African scholar and UNESCO education expert Catherine Odora Hoppers wrote about cognitive justice in the field of education. [7] She argued that indigenous knowledges have to be included in the dialogues of knowledge without having to fit in the structures and standards of Western knowledge. When Indigenous knowledges are treated equally, they can play their role in making a more democratic and dialogical science, which remains connected to the livelihoods and survival of all cultures. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning.

This is an index of education articles.

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology is an international scientific research institute, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya that works towards improving lives and livelihoods of people in Africa.

Transnational feminism refers to both a contemporary feminist paradigm and the corresponding activist movement. Both the theories and activist practices are concerned with how globalization and capitalism affect people across nations, races, genders, classes, and sexualities. This movement asks to critique the ideologies of traditional white, classist, western models of feminist practices from an intersectional approach and how these connect with labor, theoretical applications, and analytical practice on a geopolitical scale.

Ethnoecology is the scientific study of how different groups of people living in different locations understand the ecosystems around them, and their relationships with surrounding environments.

Indigenous decolonization describes ongoing theoretical and political processes whose goal is to contest and reframe narratives about indigenous community histories and the effects of colonial expansion, cultural assimilation, exploitative Western research, and often though not inherent, genocide. Indigenous people engaged in decolonization work adopt a critical stance towards western-centric research practices and discourse and seek to reposition knowledge within Indigenous cultural practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arif Dirlik</span> Turkish historian

Arif Dirlik was a Turkish-American historian who published on historiography and political ideology in modern China, as well as issues in modernity, globalization, and postcolonial criticism. Dirlik received a BSc in Electrical Engineering at Robert College, Istanbul in 1964 and a PhD in History at the University of Rochester in 1973.

Fusion is the ICT for Development (ICT4D) movement of Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka, the leading NGO, serving over 15,000 villages. The name Sarvodaya is taken from the Sanskrit meaning of 'awakening (udaya) of all (sarva)', and roots back to the Gandhian ideals. Fusion, as implied by the true meaning of the word, envisages the fusion of the vision and mission of Sarvodaya into the broader development scenario, using Information and Communication technologies (ICT) as a common fabric. Thus, Fusion is identified as the ICT for Development (ICT4D) movement of Sarvodaya.

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) describes indigenous and other traditional knowledge of local resources. As a field of study in Northern American anthropology, TEK refers to "a cumulative body of knowledge, belief, and practice, evolving by accumulation of TEK and handed down through generations through traditional songs, stories and beliefs. It is concerned with the relationship of living beings with their traditional groups and with their environment." Indigenous knowledge is not a universal concept among various societies, but is referred to a system of knowledge traditions or practices that are heavily dependent on "place". Such knowledge is used in natural resource management as a substitute for baseline environmental data in cases where there is little recorded scientific data, or may complement Western scientific methods of ecological management.

Allan M. Collins is an American cognitive scientist, Professor Emeritus of Learning Sciences at Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy. His research is recognized as having broad impact on the fields of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and education.

Shiv Visvanathan is an Indian academic best known for his contributions to developing the field of science and technology studies (STS), and for the concept of cognitive justice, a term he coined. He is currently Professor at O P Jindal Global University, Sonepat. He was Professor, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DA-IICT), Gandhinagar, India and has held the position of Senior fellow Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Delhi He has also taught at the Delhi School of Economics. He has held visiting professorships at Smith College, Stanford, Goldsmiths, Arizona State University and Maastricht University, Harvard University & Oxford University. He is author of Organizing for Science, A Carnival for Science and has co-edited Foulplay: Chronicles of Corruption. He has been consultant to the National Council of Churches and Business India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Friends Service Committee</span>

The Canadian Friends Service Committee (CFSC) is a charity that acts on the peace and social justice concerns of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Canada.

Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In the United States, social anthropology is commonly subsumed within cultural anthropology or sociocultural anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decoloniality</span> School of thought

Decoloniality is a school of thought that aims to delink from Eurocentric knowledge hierarchies and ways of being in the world in order to enable other forms of existence on Earth. It critiques the perceived universality of Western knowledge and the superiority of Western culture, including the systems and institutions that reinforce these perceptions. Decolonial perspectives understand colonialism as the basis for the everyday function of capitalist modernity and imperialism.

Rajni Kothari was an Indian political scientist, political theorist, academic and writer. He was the founder of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in 1963, a social sciences and humanities research institute, based in Delhi and Lokayan, started in 1980 as a forum for interaction between activists and intellectuals. He was also associated with Indian Council of Social Science Research, International Foundation for Development Alternatives, and People's Union for Civil Liberties.

Rangaswamy Narasimhan was an Indian computer and cognitive scientist, regarded by many as the father of computer science research in India. He led the team which developed the TIFRAC, the first Indian indigenous computer and was instrumental in the establishment of CMC Limited in 1975, a Government of India company, later bought by Tata Consultancy Services. He was a recipient of the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri from the Government of India in 1977.

Science and technology studies (STS) in India is a fast growing field of academic inquiry in India since the 1980s. STS has developed in the country from the science movements of the 1970s and 1980s as well as the scholarly criticism of science and technology policies of the Indian state. Now the field is established with at least five generations of scholars and several departments and institutes specialising in science, technology and innovation policy studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Odora Hoppers</span>

Catherine Alum Odora Hoppers is a Ugandan-born Professor in Development Education in South Africa. She has worked in Sweden and now (2020) is based in South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decolonization of knowledge</span> Process of undoing colonial influences on knowledge

Decolonization of knowledge is a concept advanced in decolonial scholarship that critiques the perceived hegemony of Western knowledge systems. It seeks to construct and legitimize other knowledge systems by exploring alternative epistemologies, ontologies and methodologies. It is also an intellectual project that aims to "disinfect" academic activities that are believed to have little connection with the objective pursuit of knowledge and truth. The presumption is that if curricula, theories, and knowledge are colonized, it means they have been partly influenced by political, economic, social and cultural considerations. The decolonial knowledge perspective covers a wide variety of subjects including philosophy, science, history of science, and other fundamental categories in social science.

The sociology of absences is a sociological theory developed by Boaventura De Sousa Santos which, he says, "aims to show that what does not exist is in fact actively produced as non-existent, that is to say as an unbelievable alternative to what is supposed to exist”.

References

  1. Shiv Visvanathan (2009). "The search for cognitive justice". Retrieved January 7, 2011.
  2. Visvanathan, Shiv (1997). "A Carnival for Science: Essays on science, technology and development". London: Oxford University Press
  3. Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (ed) (2007). "Cognitive Justice in a Global World: Prudent knowledges for a decent life". Lanham: Lexington
  4. Augusto, Geri (2008). "Digitizing IKS: Epistemic complexity, datadiversity & cognitive justice". Retrieved January 7, 2011. In The International Information & Library Review vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 211-218. Retrieved on January 7, 2011
  5. van der Velden, Maja (2009), "Design for a Common World: On Ethical agency and cognitive justice". Retrieved January 7, 2011. In Ethics and Information Technology, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 37 - 47
  6. Reilly, Katherine (2010). "From ICT4D to Cognitive Justice: Designing Research for Open Development". Retrieved on January 7, 2011
  7. 1 2 Odora Hoppers, Catherine A. (2009). "Education, culture and society in a globalizing world: implications for comparative and international education". In Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 601 - 614

Further reading