Knowing Otherwise : Race, Gender, and Implicit Understanding

Alexis Shotwell

ISBN 10: 0271037644 / ISBN 13: 9780271037646

Published by BERTRAMS Mai 2012, 2012

About this Item

Neuware - Prejudice is often not a conscious attitude: because of ingrained habits in relating to the world, one may act in prejudiced ways toward others without explicitly understanding the meaning of one's actions. Similarly, one may know how to do certain things, like ride a bicycle, without being able to articulate in words what that knowledge is. These are examples of what Alexis Shotwell discusses in Knowing Otherwise as phenomena of 'implicit understanding.' Presenting a systematic analysis of this concept, she highlights how this kind of understanding may be used to ground positive political and social change, such as combating racism in its less overt and more deep-rooted forms.

Seller Inventory # 9780271037646

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Knowing Otherwise : Race, Gender, and Implicit Understanding
• Publisher: BERTRAMS Mai 2012
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271037644
• ISBN 13: 9780271037646
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 228W x 151H x 20D millimeters 228 millimeters width by 151 millimeters height by 20 millimeters depth
• Weight: 294 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Prejudice is often not a conscious attitude: because of ingrained habits in relating to the world, one may act in prejudiced ways toward others without explicitly understanding the meaning of one’s actions. Similarly, one may know how to do certain things, like ride a bicycle, without being able to articulate in words what that knowledge is. These are examples of what Alexis Shotwell discusses in Knowing Otherwise as phenomena of “implicit understanding.” Presenting a systematic analysis of this concept, she highlights how this kind of understanding may be used to ground positive political and social change, such as combating racism in its less overt and more deep-rooted forms.

Shotwell begins by distinguishing four basic types of implicit understanding: nonpropositional, skill-based, or practical knowledge; embodied knowledge; potentially propositional knowledge; and affective knowledge. She then develops the notion of a racialized and gendered “common sense,” drawing on Gramsci and critical race theorists, and clarifies the idea of embodied knowledge by showing how it operates in the realm of aesthetics. She also examines the role that both negative affects, like shame, and positive affects, like sympathy, can play in moving us away from racism and toward political solidarity and social justice. Finally, Shotwell looks at the politicized experience of one’s body in feminist and transgender theories of liberation in order to elucidate the role of situated sensuous knowledge in bringing about social change and political transformation.

About the Author

Alexis Shotwell is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Laurentian University in Ontario, Canada.