The End of the Cognitive Empire: The Coming of Age of Epistemologies of the South - Softcover

De Sousa Santos, Boaventura

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1478000155 ISBN 13: 9781478000150

Publisher: Duke University Press Books, 2018

Synopsis

In The End of the Cognitive Empire Boaventura de Sousa Santos further develops his concept of the "epistemologies of the South," in which he outlines a theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical framework for challenging the dominance of Eurocentric thought. As a collection of knowledges born of and anchored in the experiences of marginalized peoples who actively resist capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy, epistemologies of the South represent those forms of knowledge that are generally discredited, erased, and ignored by dominant cultures of the global North. Noting the declining efficacy of established social and political solutions to combat inequality and discrimination, Santos suggests that global justice can only come about through an epistemological shift that guarantees cognitive justice. Such a shift would create new, alternative strategies for political mobilization and activism and give oppressed social groups the means through which to represent the world as their own and in their own terms.

About this title

About the Author

Boaventura de Sousa Santos is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Coimbra (Portugal), Distinguished Legal Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the author and editor of dozens of books, which include If God Were a Human Rights Activist and Epistemologies of the South: Justice against Epistemicide.

Review

"Boaventura de Sousa Santos is one of the most brilliant and original thinkers on theories of knowledge. This latest book offers us a further development of what he has been arguing for some time. He leaves the reader (at least, me) breathless in the range and relevance of the issues he discusses and actions he proposes. One does not have to agree with everything to be dazzled, and to rethink many things we assume. A must read for whoever wants to change the world."--Immanuel Wallerstein

"The result of many years of work, this book was written towards the possibility of what I would call 'una epistemologia solidaria, ' an epistemology in solidarity with those who want to change the world as it is hegemonically known. Boaventura de Sousa Santos's political analysis in The End of the Cognitive Empire offers an alternative that steers political analysis away from usual alternatives."--Marisol de la Cadena

Edition details

• Publisher: Duke University Press Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1478000155
• ISBN 13: 9781478000150
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 392