Publicado

2021-07-10

Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies

Descolonización ambiental mediante epistemologías africanas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881

Palabras clave:

Environment, Epistemic violence, Decolonization, Ubuntu, Anthropocene, Africa, Ethiopia (en)
Ambiente, Violencia epistémica, Descolonización, Ubuntu, Antropoceno, África, Etiopía (es)

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Autores/as

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.

Desde una perspectiva basada en el espacio, este artículo examina las epistemologías africanas del ambiente, las cuales consideran a la naturaleza como poseedora de un valor inherente, de identidad y de agencia. Se presenta la manera africana de relacionarse con el ambiente o de vivir en él como una vía para fusionarse con la naturaleza, más allá de los discursos del Antropoceno y del cambio climático. En particular, se tomarán perspectivas del discurso epistémico africano de África austral y oriental, junto con las nociones de Ubuntu y Tabot para reflexionar sobre cómo el ambiente es percibido tradicionalmente como sagrado y cómo es parte de una comunidad viva. El artículo también considera cómo los medios utilizados por los africanos indígenas para obtener conocimientos y fusionarse con la naturaleza han sido suplantados con violencia epistémica; la imposición de ideas occidentales sobre el ambiente, sobre la cosmovisión africana a través de sistemas e instituciones que excluyen o explotan los saberes locales. Tomando a Etiopía como caso de estudio, el artículo demuestra cómo la violencia epistémica se ejerce al excluir de la educación los saberes indígenas sobre el ambiente y se diseminan, en su lugar, concepciones eurocéntricas del ambiente. Se muestra cómo la recolección y retención de manuscritos etíopes en instituciones occidentales ha contribuido a la pérdida de conocimiento ambiental indígena. Finalmente se examina la importancia de las perspectivas africanas para descolonizar las formas de conocer el ambiente y de relacionarse con él. Asimismo, se ofrecen reflexiones críticas sobre cómo las epistemologías africanas podrían ser utilizadas para construir un futuro sostenible y descolonizado.

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Cómo citar

APA

Woldeyes, Y. G. y Belachew, T. (2021). Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies. Gestión y Ambiente, 24(supl1), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881

ACM

[1]
Woldeyes, Y.G. y Belachew, T. 2021. Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies. Gestión y Ambiente. 24, supl1 (jun. 2021), 61–81. DOI:https://doi.org/10.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881.

ACS

(1)
Woldeyes, Y. G.; Belachew, T. Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies. Gest. Ambient. 2021, 24, 61-81.

ABNT

WOLDEYES, Y. G.; BELACHEW, T. Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies. Gestión y Ambiente, [S. l.], v. 24, n. supl1, p. 61–81, 2021. DOI: 10.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881. Disponível em: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/91881. Acesso em: 29 mar. 2024.

Chicago

Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw, y Tekletsadik Belachew. 2021. «Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies». Gestión Y Ambiente 24 (supl1):61-81. https://doi.org/10.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881.

Harvard

Woldeyes, Y. G. y Belachew, T. (2021) «Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies», Gestión y Ambiente, 24(supl1), pp. 61–81. doi: 10.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881.

IEEE

[1]
Y. G. Woldeyes y T. Belachew, «Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies», Gest. Ambient., vol. 24, n.º supl1, pp. 61–81, jun. 2021.

MLA

Woldeyes, Y. G., y T. Belachew. «Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies». Gestión y Ambiente, vol. 24, n.º supl1, junio de 2021, pp. 61-81, doi:10.15446/ga.v24nsupl1.91881.

Turabian

Woldeyes, Yirga Gelaw, y Tekletsadik Belachew. «Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies». Gestión y Ambiente 24, no. supl1 (junio 14, 2021): 61–81. Accedido marzo 29, 2024. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/91881.

Vancouver

1.
Woldeyes YG, Belachew T. Decolonising the environment through African epistemologies. Gest. Ambient. [Internet]. 14 de junio de 2021 [citado 29 de marzo de 2024];24(supl1):61-8. Disponible en: https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/gestion/article/view/91881

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CrossRef citations2

1. Musa W. Dube. (2024). Ecofeminist Perspectives from African Women Creative Writers. , p.3. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48509-1_1.

2. James Angus Fraser, Ariane Cosiaux, Gretchen Walters, Adeniyi Asiyanbi, Prince Osei-Wusu Adjei, Patrick Addo-Fordjour, James Fairhead, Paulin Kialo, Nestor Laurier Engone Obiang, Richard Oslisly. (2024). Defining the Anthropocene tropical forest: Moving beyond ‘disturbance’ and ‘landscape domestication’ with concepts from African worldviews. The Anthropocene Review, https://doi.org/10.1177/20530196231226307.

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