Friends
Hope we can look at this with more empathy (since we designers claim
to be empathic and sensitive and now we also use the term
'participatory' often) and also with certain sense of distance. We
can't undo what has happened but what can we do now?(since we claim to
be civilized and also believe in equality etc....)
But in order to clarify few things bit of history as much of this is
hidden from our view. (There is a book by Will Durant called 'The case
for India' and also worth reading is the compilation from the British
archives done by Dharampal called the beautiful tree -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharampal ,
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/beautifultree.pdf)
Conquering is about occupying land and colonization is about occupying
mind. This is the crucial difference between the European occupation
and the other ones. In order to conquer the minds various institutions
were set up- church, schools, market and hospitals. A complete change
in the worldview of the colonized was brought about by this act.
Let me quote from the minutes by the 'Hon'ble' T. B. Macaulay, dated
the 2nd February 1835.
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/macaulay/txt_minute_education_1835.html
[34] In one point I fully agree with the gentlemen to whose
general views I am opposed. I feel with them that it is impossible for
us, with our limited means, to attempt to educate the body of the
people. We must at present do our best to form a class who may be
interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, --a class of
persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in
opinions, in morals and in intellect. To that class we may leave it to
refine the vernacular dialects of the country, to enrich those
dialects with terms of science borrowed from the Western nomenclature,
and to render them by degrees fit vehicles for conveying knowledge to
the great mass of the population.
All this was done with conviction and sincerity!
Colonizer ensures that not only the knowledge is killed and replaced
with their 'knowledge' but also the very process of creating knowledge
is damaged. Modern education is not about knowledge. It is about
politics, propaganda and advertisements. It starts with very young age
done very cleverly so that the student is not even aware of the trap.
The best way to kill a culture is to establish a school.
For example let us take how 'history' is taught. Design history is
about the west and elements of design or basic design is taught using
the western text ensuring that the designers aesthetic sensibility is
western.
But more fundamental is the way the total world view is imposed, what
constitutes knowledge, its categories, the process of knowing etc.
Once this is done in two generations the colonized will almost
completely forget their own culture, will have the colonizers
'knowledge' installed firmly and also the colonizers 'aesthetic
sensibility'.
I have one question for Ken and other western educators who are
teaching in non western design schools. In what way are various
courses offered in these countries different in content from what is
being taught in western design schools. When you say you have
experienced several cultures does that mean culture is outside the
institutions and 'knowledge'?
Colonization is done very cleverly and the colonized is often not even
aware of this. The colonizer himself often thinks it is done for the
benefit of the colonized. (Read 'to hell with good intention' by Ivan
Illich to get a good picture of this hypocrisy)
In fact, what I have been feeling is that the colonizer himself is a
victim. He is the victim of the printed word. The printed word rewires
the complete cognitive system- the tools for knowing, the process and
the structure. This removes emotions, feelings, senses from his being
making the culture fragmented and masculine. (Harold Innis, Eric A.
Havelock, Marshal McLuhan, The Alphabet vs. The Goddess by Dr. Leonard
Shlain)
Jinan
On 02/07/2016, Luiza <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Thank you François for the much-needed clarity of your response. The
> intention of our platform, which seems to have been misconstrued by many
> here is *not* to find a way to publish our paper. This is not about the
> paper itself. Its rejection was only a trigger; it was the event that
> highlighted the need for an alternative channel where the discussion on
> design's role in the establishment and enforcement of the coloniality of
> power could be taken seriously.
>
> If someone is still confused about our intentions, I suggest that a
> thorough reading of our Editorial Statement
> <http://www.decolonisingdesign.com/general/2016/editorial/> (which was the
> centerpiece of my first email to this list) might help. If some terms seem
> confusing, they were either already broadly explained by members of this
> list, or their meaning is a google search away.
>
> On 2 July 2016 at 13:25, Francois Nsenga <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Dear Luke and all
>>
>> I personally wouldn't be interested in going into details of the rejected
>> paper. At this present point in time, it would rather lead into another
>> bitter exchange of personal opinions on why this particular paper was
>> indeed rejected by those particular reviewers, and why it shouldn't have
>> been. To me, no point in engaging into a public debate on a single case,
>> not necessarily representative of a category of many other papers that
>> have
>> rejected. A study on the lot of papers presented at DRS gathering, yes,
>> that would be highly interesting.
>>
>> Also, think about those reviewers who, contrary to the current accepted
>> modus operandi in academic advancement, by generously offering anonymous
>> and "objective" peer criticism, will be intellectually lynched in public,
>> summoned to present their defence for their professional opinions, and
>> possibly and inevitably personal bias! Unless the purpose would be
>> specifically to discuss those current rules and peer review procedures,
>> and
>> to question that "objectivity" by proposing for debate a more appopriate
>> alternative, then I'll join with enthusiasm.
>>
>> Otherwise, and that is the reason why, at start, I did not move to ask to
>> read the rejected paper and comments by reviewers, I personally consider
>> this request as a possible vendicative voyeurism and a somehow morbid
>> curiosity that in no way will advance our collective intellectual domain
>> nor enrich respective personal professional design performances.
>>
>> Best wishes from Kigali,
>>
>> Francois
>>
>> On Sat, Jul 2, 2016 at 5:34 AM, Luke Feast <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> > Dear Colleagues,
>> >
>> > This is an interesting discussion. I would like to learn more about the
>> > specific issues. I hope that the authors will publish the rejected
>> > paper
>> > along with the reviewer notes and comments. Publishing the rejected
>> > paper
>> > along with the reviewer notes and comments will enable readers to
>> determine
>> > for themselves whether the standpoints at issue are acceptable based on
>> the
>> > merits of the argumentation.
>> >
>> > Best,
>> > Luke
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> // Luiza Prado
> PhD Candidate in Design Research
> Universität der Künste Berlin – Fakultät Gestaltung
>
> (+49) 0176 7684 1987
> a-pare.de
>
>
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--
Jinan,
'DIGITAL MEDIUM IS A TOOL.DIGITALLY MEDIATED KNOWLEDGE DESTROYS THE BEING'
http://sadhanavillageschool.org/
https://www.youtube.com/user/sadhanavillagepune
https://www.youtube.com/user/jinansvideos
www.re-cognition.org
www.kumbham.org
reimaginingschools.wordpress.com
http://designeducationasia.blogspot.com/
http://awakeningaestheticawareness.wordpress.com/
https://independent.academia.edu/JinanKodapully
09447121544
0487 2386723
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