Beyond South Africa’s ‘indigenous knowledge – science’ wars

South African Journal of Science

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Beyond South Africa’s ‘indigenous knowledge – science’ wars
 
Creator Green, Lesley J.F.
 
Subject Anthropology; Science and Technology Studies intellectual heritages; indigenous knowledge; modernist ontologies; South Africa; Western science
Description In this paper, the paradoxes and difficulties attending the notion of indigenous knowledge in South Africa are reviewed and an alternative dialogue about intellectual heritage is proposed. Beginning with a survey of debates on ‘indigenous knowledge’ and sciences in India, Australia and Latin America, the discussion draws attention to differences in regional discussions on the subject of knowledge diversity. Turning to the South African context, the paper foregrounds contradictions in the debate on traditional medicines and the sciences in relation to HIV. The bifurcation of ‘indigenous knowledge’ and ‘science’ is argued against. Debates on both indigenous knowledge and science within the critical humanities in South Africa have been characterised by denunciation: an approach which does not facilitate the important discussions needed on intellectual heritage, or on the relationship between sciences and coloniality. In dialogue with current research on the anthropology of knowledge, strategies are proposed to broaden the possibilities for scholarship on knowledge, sciences, and different ways of understanding the world.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor Andrew W Mellon Foundation Carnegie Foundation South African National Research Foundation
Date 2012-07-10
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajs.v108i7/8.631
 
Source South African Journal of Science; Vol 108, No 7/8 (2012); 10 Pages 1996-7489 0038-2353
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://journals.sajs.aosis.co.za/index.php/sajs/article/view/631/1309 https://journals.sajs.aosis.co.za/index.php/sajs/article/view/631/1330 https://journals.sajs.aosis.co.za/index.php/sajs/article/view/631/1322 https://journals.sajs.aosis.co.za/index.php/sajs/article/view/631/1308
 
Coverage Southern Africa; Latin America; South Asia — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2012 Lesley J.F. Green https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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