Multiple Epistemologies
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Item Beyond epistemicide: Knowledge democracy and higher education(UNESCO Chair, 2015) Hall, Budd LAs universities grapple with their role in a world marked by inequality and ecological crisis, the question of whose knowledge counts has become impossible to ignore. This paper situates higher education within a longer history of epistemicide, the systematic erasure of indigenous and marginalized ways of knowing, and examines how knowledge democracy offers a path toward repair. By drawing on examples of community-based research and indigenous scholarship, it argues for reimagining universities as sites of dialogue rather than dominance, where multiple epistemologies can coexist. The study underscores both the transformative promise and the unresolved tensions of this shift, positioning knowledge democracy less as a finished framework than as an unfolding experiment in rebalancing power and voice.Item Knowledge democracy and diverse epistemologies: Inspired by the book “Socially responsible higher education: International perspectives on knowledge democracy”(UNESCO Chair, 2021) Tandon, Rajesh; Hall, Budd LItem Land and people No. 3, July-September 1988(Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), 1988-09) Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA)This report covers the third issue of Land and People, a PRIA newsletter on land ownership and alienation, published between July and September 1988. It opens with the Supreme Court's August 1988 ruling ordering the closure of limestone mines in the Doon Valley after nearly three decades of local resistance. It examines India's National Water Policy, questioning whether its emphasis on river-basin planning and large-scale groundwater recharge benefits marginal farmers or reinforces their exclusion. The focus article revisits land reform four decades after independence, highlighting the gap between legal provisions and the land held by small and tenant farmers. A review of Vijay Paranjpye's study of the Tehri Dam questions official estimates of economic returns, displacement, and ecological risks. It also reports on protests against the Narmada Valley Project in Bombay, a fast at the Sardar Sarovar dam site, and a march in North Bihar over recurring floods and drinking water scarcity. It concludes with a letter from Thailand's Project for Ecological Recovery on the shelving of the Nam Choan dam following sustained cross-border solidarity, and a report on the first International Rivers Network conference in San Francisco.Item Participatory evaluation of the M. Puthur rural expansion project of national Y.W.C.A.(Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) , 1986-08) Manilal V.The evaluation is participatory, and it was carried out for the Rural Expansion Project of the National Y.W.C.A in Thottiyam, Tiruchirapalli district, Tamil Nadu. The project’s main goals were related to adult education, development of village-based organizations and local leadership, women’s emancipation, youth activism, and economic development. The assessment revealed that adult education centers play an essential role in the growth of leadership and village-based organizations, as well as the power of women in the community. For instance, Mahila Mandals and Youth Clubs were formed in many villages, but the level of their development varies significantly. Moreover, the project facilitated access to government developmental schemes and loans, and it helped animate the staff and the village animators. The findings also indicated weaknesses related to group organization, collective action, staff coordination, and the transition from government dependence to self-sustaining. The evaluation recommended developing the staff’s and animators’ conceptual and practical knowledge of group organization and action, getting involved in the development of the village-based organizations, and working on time-bounded strategies for their progressive sustainability.
