Decolonizing Methodologies: Research And Indigeneous Peoples

To the colonized, the term ‘research’ is conflated with European colonialism; the ways in which scientific research has been implicated in the throes of imperialism remains a painful memory for many of the world’s colonized peoples. Here, an indigenous researcher issues a clarion call for the decolonization of research methods in an attempt to reclaim control over indigenous ways of knowing and being. Now in its second edition, this book critically examines the bases of Western research, while also suggesting literature which validates one’s frustrations in dealing with western methodologies, all of which position the indigenous as ‘Other.’ The author explores the intersections of imperialism and research – specifically, the ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as ‘regimes of truth.’ Concepts such as ‘discovery’ and ‘claiming’ are discussed, explicitly in terms of how the west has consistently incorporated the indigenous world within its own web. This book sets a standard for emancipatory research, brilliantly demonstrating that ‘when indigenous peoples become the researchers and not merely the researched, the activity of research is transformed.’

Publisher: Zed Books

Paperback

1999

ISBN: 9781856496247