Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies
This paper examines African epistemologies of the environment as a place-based perspective that regards nature as having its inherent value, personhood, and agency. It presents the African way of relating with or living in the environment as a way of becoming one with nature beyond the discourse of...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Published: |
Universidad Nacional de Colombia
2021-07-01
|
| Series: | Gestión y Ambiente |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/91881 |
| _version_ | 1818822156590514176 |
|---|---|
| author | Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes Tekletsadik Belachew |
| author_facet | Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes Tekletsadik Belachew |
| author_sort | Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper examines African epistemologies of the environment as a place-based perspective that regards nature as having its inherent value, personhood, and agency. It presents the African way of relating with or living in the environment as a way of becoming one with nature beyond the discourse of the Anthropocene and environmental change. In particular, we will take African epistemological perspectives from Southern and Eastern Africa, the notions of Ubuntu and Tabot, to reflect on how the environment is traditionally perceived as sacred and part of a living community. The paper also considers how African indigenous ways of knowing and becoming one with nature have been supplanted through epistemic violence, the imposition of western views of the environment over African worldviews through systems and institutions that exclude or exploit local knowledges. Using Ethiopia as a case study, the paper demonstrates how epistemic violence is enacted by excluding indigenous knowledges of the environment from education and disseminating Eurocentric views of the environment. It shall show how the collecting and hording of Ethiopian manuscripts in western institutions has contributed to this loss of indigenous environmental knowledge. Finally, we will examine the importance of African perspectives to decolonise our ways of knowing and relating with the environment, and offer critical insights on how African epistemologies could be used to build a future that is decolonised and sustainable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:19:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76a762f4a2d743febec4c744307ef61c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0124-177X 2357-5905 |
| language | Spanish |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:19:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | Universidad Nacional de Colombia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Gestión y Ambiente |
| spelling | doaj.art-76a762f4a2d743febec4c744307ef61c2022-12-21T20:48:03ZspaUniversidad Nacional de ColombiaGestión y Ambiente0124-177X2357-59052021-07-0124supl110.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881Decolonising the environment through African epistemologiesYirga Gelaw Woldeyes0Tekletsadik Belachew1Curtin University, Centre for Human Rights Education. PerthTibeb Research and Retreat Center – TRRC. Addis AbabaThis paper examines African epistemologies of the environment as a place-based perspective that regards nature as having its inherent value, personhood, and agency. It presents the African way of relating with or living in the environment as a way of becoming one with nature beyond the discourse of the Anthropocene and environmental change. In particular, we will take African epistemological perspectives from Southern and Eastern Africa, the notions of Ubuntu and Tabot, to reflect on how the environment is traditionally perceived as sacred and part of a living community. The paper also considers how African indigenous ways of knowing and becoming one with nature have been supplanted through epistemic violence, the imposition of western views of the environment over African worldviews through systems and institutions that exclude or exploit local knowledges. Using Ethiopia as a case study, the paper demonstrates how epistemic violence is enacted by excluding indigenous knowledges of the environment from education and disseminating Eurocentric views of the environment. It shall show how the collecting and hording of Ethiopian manuscripts in western institutions has contributed to this loss of indigenous environmental knowledge. Finally, we will examine the importance of African perspectives to decolonise our ways of knowing and relating with the environment, and offer critical insights on how African epistemologies could be used to build a future that is decolonised and sustainable.https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/91881EnvironmentEpistemic violenceDecolonizationUbuntuAnthropoceneAfrica |
| spellingShingle | Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes Tekletsadik Belachew Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies Gestión y Ambiente Environment Epistemic violence Decolonization Ubuntu Anthropocene Africa |
| title | Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies |
| title_full | Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies |
| title_fullStr | Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies |
| title_short | Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies |
| title_sort | decolonising the environment through african epistemologies |
| topic | Environment Epistemic violence Decolonization Ubuntu Anthropocene Africa |
| url | https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/91881 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yirgagelawwoldeyes decolonisingtheenvironmentthroughafricanepistemologies AT tekletsadikbelachew decolonisingtheenvironmentthroughafricanepistemologies |