Decolonizing Knowledge: From Development to Dialogue (WIDER Studies in Development Economics)

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.

Frédérique Appfel Marglin is at Smith College, Massachusetts. Stephen A. Marglin is at Harvard University.