Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Places to Think With, Books to Think About: Words, Experience and the Decolonization of Knowledge in the Bolivian Andes

Burman, Anders LU (2012) In Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge 10(1). p.101-119
Abstract
Drawing on his anthropological field work in Bolivia in the midst of profound social and political change, the author examines the attitudes of various interlocutors toward knowledge, and in particular the important differences between “hegemonic theories of knowledge and indigenous epistemologies, between propositional and non-propositional knowledge, between knowledge of the world and knowledge from within the world, or between representationalist

and relational ways of knowing.” He stresses that there is “no absolute dividing line,” no “clear-cut dichotomies after almost 500 years of asymmetric and colonial intermingling of epistemologies and knowledge systems from different traditions.” Nonetheless, relational ways of knowing... (More)
Drawing on his anthropological field work in Bolivia in the midst of profound social and political change, the author examines the attitudes of various interlocutors toward knowledge, and in particular the important differences between “hegemonic theories of knowledge and indigenous epistemologies, between propositional and non-propositional knowledge, between knowledge of the world and knowledge from within the world, or between representationalist

and relational ways of knowing.” He stresses that there is “no absolute dividing line,” no “clear-cut dichotomies after almost 500 years of asymmetric and colonial intermingling of epistemologies and knowledge systems from different traditions.” Nonetheless, relational ways of knowing and indigenous traditions of thought continue to be systematically treated as inferior. However, they are still present and are currently making themselves felt at the university. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
indigenous knowledge, decolonization of knowledge, Aymara, Bolivia, indigenous universities, epistemology
in
Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge
volume
10
issue
1
pages
101 - 119
publisher
OKCIR: The Omar Khayyam Center for Integrative Research in Utopia, Mysticism, and Science
ISSN
1540-5699
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
77dc6a15-e00c-4e11-b1ca-b608500b076d (old id 2366080)
alternative location
http://scholarworks.umb.edu/humanarchitecture/vol10/iss1/11/
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:50:11
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:30:37
@article{77dc6a15-e00c-4e11-b1ca-b608500b076d,
  abstract     = {{Drawing on his anthropological field work in Bolivia in the midst of profound social and political change, the author examines the attitudes of various interlocutors toward knowledge, and in particular the important differences between “hegemonic theories of knowledge and indigenous epistemologies, between propositional and non-propositional knowledge, between knowledge of the world and knowledge from within the world, or between representationalist<br/><br>
and relational ways of knowing.” He stresses that there is “no absolute dividing line,” no “clear-cut dichotomies after almost 500 years of asymmetric and colonial intermingling of epistemologies and knowledge systems from different traditions.” Nonetheless, relational ways of knowing and indigenous traditions of thought continue to be systematically treated as inferior. However, they are still present and are currently making themselves felt at the university.}},
  author       = {{Burman, Anders}},
  issn         = {{1540-5699}},
  keywords     = {{indigenous knowledge; decolonization of knowledge; Aymara; Bolivia; indigenous universities; epistemology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{101--119}},
  publisher    = {{OKCIR: The Omar Khayyam Center for Integrative Research in Utopia, Mysticism, and Science}},
  series       = {{Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge}},
  title        = {{Places to Think With, Books to Think About: Words, Experience and the Decolonization of Knowledge in the Bolivian Andes}},
  url          = {{http://scholarworks.umb.edu/humanarchitecture/vol10/iss1/11/}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}