Definition of Epistemology of the South (and North)

De Sousa Santos's critique of traditional epistemologies —called Epistemologies of the North— concentrates on the fact that These are systematically based on what he calls an “abyssal line” that separates societies: metropolises from cities. colonies. Being an invisible line, it allows these epistemologies to pose false universalisms, based on the experience of the metropolis, pointing to the reproduction and justification of the normative dualism between metropolis and colony. The metropolis becomes the only source of valid knowledge, while what is on the other side of the line becomes the realm of ignorance.

Difference between the epistemology of the North and the South

The line drawn, then, between societies, is "abyssal" because the knowledge that remains on the other side of it is actively produced as non-existent by the knowledge that remains on the side of the "we" of the

Epistemology from North. Thus, the Epistemology of the North produces absences. It should be clarified, in this sense, that the division between North and South does not respond to strictly geographical criteria. De Sousa Santos will refer to a Global North, one that carried out the processes of territorial conquest over the Global South, however, both in the North and in the geographic South can coexist "North" and "South" epistemological.

The notion of "South" when speaking of an Epistemology of the South, is related to the idea of ​​a resistance, within epistemology, against the imposition of a universalist, objectivist epistemology, which is affirmed as the only valid means to access a truth objective; but that, at the same time, was historically configured in concrete contexts, namely, European Modernity.

Epistemological universality as "epistemicide"

The greater the commitment of the knowledge that is excluded by the hegemonic version of the "Scientific knowledge" with resistance against those same abyssal exclusions - caused by the capitalism, the colonialism and patriarchy — the greater will be its denial. In other words, the abyssal line prefigures an “epistemicide”: the destruction of the knowledge that prevails on the other side of the line, once it is drawn.

The result of epistemicide throughout colonial history was that colonized societies were unable to represent the world as their own and on their own terms (and therefore transform it according to their own interests). That is, the abyssal line produces an ontological effect, as it decides between the existence or non-existence of worlds. At the root of the epistemological difference there is an ontological difference.

In Western modernity, the ontological difference has resulted in a separation between a humanity and various sub-humanities. Thus, the idea of ​​rationality, attributed exclusively to a certain type of subjectivity (the white man, adult, European, owner, speaker of major languages), not only functions as a limit between ways of knowing, but also allows the hierarchization of different ways of production of truth and, once that hierarchy is established, the imposition of one truth on another, the affirmation of a world that denies Other worlds.

Epistemology and history

For De Sousa Santos, the Epistemologies of the North contributed decisively when converting scientific knowledge developed in the global North in the hegemonic way of representing the world as their own and transforming it according to their needs and aspirations. Thus, scientific knowledge, combined with superior economic and military power, guaranteed the global North imperial domination of the world in the modern era until today.

Unlike the epistemological canon, the author is interested in the inclusion of ethical, political, economic and social problems in epistemological reflection. These were problems that, for the Eurocentric tradition, should necessarily be left out of this reflection.

Sociology of absences and sociology of emergencies

According to the author, then, there can be no social justice without “global cognitive justice”. Therefore, the first step for the decolonization of knowledge is to identify the "abyssal line", both epistemologically and politically. This is the goal of what he calls a “sociology of absences ”, which must, firstly, identify that abyssal line and then eliminate the“ abyssal exclusions ”, to starting from a "sociology of emergencies" that brings to the fore the knowledge hidden by the Epistemology of North. Both are tools for construction of an Epistemology of the South, capable of resignifying the knowledge of the peoples denied throughout history, that is, to decolonize knowledge.

Consulted bibliography

DE SOUSA SANTOS, B. (2018) "Introduction to the Epistemologies of the South" in Epistemologies of the South. Coimbra, CLACSO.

Topics in Epistemology of the South (and North)