Call for papers: RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, 27-29 August 2008
'Indigenous' knowledge, resistance and agency: telling the hidden
histories of geographical field science and exploration
Jude Hill (University of Exeter), Lowri Jones (RHUL), Nicola Thomas
(University of Exeter)
'Indigenous' or 'non-western' knowledges have been incorporated into the
work of geographers for many years. It is well established that despite the
myth of the heroic explorer acting independently of local knowledge and
circumstances, information gathered from and by indigenous peoples shaped
the travels of explorers in Africa and elsewhere, and continues to inform
the work of geographers today. However, in contrast to historians of
anthropology and of science, geographers have thus far paid surprisingly
little attention to the role of indigenous peoples and indigenous knowledges
in the history of the discipline (notable exceptions including Bravo, 1999,
2000). Whilst we have emphasised the role of exploration within the history
of geography in the above call, we would also be interested in hearing from
researchers whose work could add to the discussion of these themes from
other relevant perspectives.
• Methodological and theoretical agendas in relation to considerations of
‘indigenous’ or ‘non western’ knowledge
• Practices of collecting & constructing the ‘non-western’ or ‘indigenous’
knoweldges
• The marginalisation and erasure of ‘indigenous’ / ‘non-western’ presence
and contribution in narratives of scientific exploration
• The hidden or subaltern histories of exploration and its attendant
geographical endeavours
• Colonial and other sources (manuscripts, journals, maps, photographs,
paintings and objects), as a means to investigate ‘indigenous’ /
‘non-western’ agency
• ‘Indigenous’/ ‘non-western’ counter-narratives to narratives of colonial
science
• The ways in which forms of ‘indigenous’/’non-western’ knowledge have been
viewed and used by explorers or other geographers
• The role of ‘non-western’ or ‘indigenous’ guides, field assistants,
porters, interpreters etc. and questions of testimony and trust
• The mediation and reception of ‘non-western’ or ‘indigenous’ knowledges as
part of the production of geographical science
• Cross-cultural encounters, non-encounters and exchange and how they shaped
exploration and its attendant geographical endeavours
• Examples of ‘indigenous’/’non-western’ resistance and its effects on
exploration and science in the field
Please send expressions of interest to : [log in to unmask]
Deadline for title and abstracts (c. 200 words): 31 January 2008
For further details of the conference please see RGS-IBG website:
http://www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/ConferencesAndSeminars/Annual+International+Conference/Annual+International+Conference.htm
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