Decolonizing Knowledge From Development to Dialogue [Hardcover]

Development failures, environmental degradation and social fragmentation can no longer be regarded as side effects. They are the toxic consequences of pretensions that the modern Western view of knowledge is a universal neutral view, applicable to all people at all times. This work argues that the linear evolutionary paradigm of development emerging from the modern Western view of knowledge is a contemporary form of colonialism. The work proposes a pluralistic vision and a decolonization of knowledge: the replacement of one-way transfers of knowledge and technology by dialogue and mutual learning. It will be of interest to scholars of development studies, sociology, and anthropology.