8-5-2019

Topics
 Personal introduction
 The concept of mental slavery and the liberation of the mind
 The background of DTM

Decolonizing The Mind - theory

DIN/DEKOSUR
Sandew Hira

15-8-2018 AMRIT APPLICATIONS 1

Introducing DTM work Emancipate yourself from mental slavery

 Sandew Hira, penname of Dew Baboeram, based in The Hague Holland
 Coordinator Global Dialogue, part of Decolonial International Network: www.din.today
 Bandung of the North: Paris May 5-6 2018
 Genocide Memorial Day: remembering man's inhumanity to man third Sunday in January

 Co-editor with Stephen Small and Arzu Merali of book series DTM
 With Ramon Grosfoguel: foundation of Decolonial Pluriversity, online university
 Book: Decolonizing The Mind - Imagining a New World Civilization: a Fundamental Critique of
Scientific Colonialism and Another Discourse of Liberation

Knowledge producers: producers of concepts Analysis of the concept of mental slavery by the artist
 Academics Old pirates, yes, they rob I Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
Sold I to the merchant ships None but ourselves can free our minds
 Activists Minutes after they took I Have no fear for atomic energy
From the bottomless pit 'Cause none of them can stop the time
 Spiritual leaders But my hand was made strong How long shall they kill our prophets
By the hand of the Almighty While we stand aside and look? Ooh
 Artists We forward in this generation Some say it's just a part of it
Triumphantly We've got to fulfill the Book
Won't you help to sing Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? These songs of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have 'Cause all I ever have
Redemption songs Redemption songs
Redemption songs

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Hatuey: around 1500 Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566)

The start of the colonization of the mind: the story of

activists The logic of Hatuey, recounted by Las Casas
“Having tied him to the stake … a Franciscan begged Hatuey to be baptized and die a Christian.
‘Why would I want to be like the Christians, who are evil?’ shot back Hatuey.
“Here is the God the Spaniards worship, for these they fight and kill; for
these they persecute us and that is why we have to throw them into the ‘Because those who die as Christians go to heaven and are in the presence of God enjoying
sea…They tell us, these tyrants, that they adore a God of peace and themselves forever.’
equality, and yet they usurp our land and make us their slaves. They speak Hatuey turned to the priest.’ Do Christians go to heaven? ”
to us of an immortal soul and of their eternal rewards and punishments,
‘All those who are good,’ responded the friar.
and yet they rob our belongings, seduce our women, violate our daughters.
Incapable of matching us in valor, these cowards cover themselves with ‘Well, I don’ t want to go where Spaniards go.’
iron that our weapons cannot break.” The executioners then applied the torch to the faggots and burned the man alive.”

Anacaona (1474-1503)

Lesson from Hatuey on DTM The story of Anacaona

1. Colonization is about exploitation and oppression. It is not about science, civilization or adventure. She and eighty other chiefs were captured by the Spaniards. They were accused
2. Brutal violence alone is not enough to keep the system going. The control of the mind is essential. of conspiracy for resisting occupation and summarily executed. Anacaona was
offered clemency if she would give herself as a concubine to one of the Spaniards.
3. If the colonizer was able to impose his religion on the colonized then he could use it to induce proper She refused and was hanged at the age of 29.
behaviour, such as obeying the authorities
4. Conversion to Christianity would be the start of breaking the identity of the colonized people. Once you Her death with honour, gave her a new life as the saviour of the dignity of a
accept the religion, language, clothing, rituals, norms and values of the colonizer, you enter a road that people
leads to regarding your original identity as pagan, as inferior.
5. The colonization of the mind is not only about the mind of the colonized. The colonization of the mind of
the colonizer is the other side of the coin. The Spaniards had nothing to offer to Hatuey than an idea. They
did not even offer to save his life if he would accept Christianity. This arrogance is typical for the mind of the
colonizer.
6. For every act of oppression, there is an act of resistance. Resistance starts in the mind and ends in the
deeds.

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)

Enslavement and mental slavery - 1

Lesson from Douglass on DTM
“Mr. Covey entered the stable with a long rope; and just as I was half out of the loft, he 1. Mental slavery is about the submission of the mind, a spirit that has been crushed, a form of
caught hold of my legs, and was about tying me. As soon as I found what he was up to, I weakness, a lack of self-confidence, it is about the mechanisms that have led to this state of
gave a sudden spring, and as I did so, he holding to my legs, I was brought sprawling on mind.
the stable floor. Mr. Covey seemed now to think he had me, and could do what he 2. Liberation from mental slavery can come through self-realization. It is not the result of study or
pleased; but at this moment—from whence came the spirit I don’t know—I resolved to something that someone tells you to do. It is the outcome of a process that takes places in your
fight; and, suiting my action to the resolution, I seized Covey hard by the throat. This
battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few mind.
expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It 3. That process of change in the mind is the result of confrontation. The confrontation starts the
recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be process of awakening the spirit of liberation.
free. The gratification afforded by the triumph was a full compensation for whatever else
might follow, even death itself. He only can understand the deep satisfaction which I 4. In a situation of brutal oppression violence can became a tool of liberation from mental slavery.
experienced, who has himself repelled by force the bloody arm of enslavement. I felt as I It brings about a new knowledge about the hidden courage and strength of the enslaved and the
never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection, from the tomb of enslavement, to the weakness of the enslaver.
heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took
its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day
had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact. I did not hesitate to let it be known of
me, that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping me, must also succeed in
killing me.”

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Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) Harriet Tubman (1822-1913)

Fanon on violence
Mechanisms of mental slavery
“The violence which has ruled over the ordering of the colonial world, which “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew
they were slaves”
has ceaselessly drummed the rhythm for the destruction of native social forms
and broken up without reserve the systems of reference of the economy, the 1. Ignorance. In 1855, after her escape to freedom in Canada, she said, “I grew up like
customs of dress and external life, that same violence will be claimed and a neglected weed ignorant of liberty, having no experience of it. Then I was not
taken over by the native at the moment when, deciding to embody history in happy or contented; every time I saw a white man I was afraid of being carried
away.”
his own person, he surges into the forbidden quarters.”
2. Fear. One Saturday, the rumour was out that two of Tubman’s sisters were going to
On an individual level violence changes the colonized person: “At the level of be sold. She decided to escape and persuaded three of her brothers to go with her.
individuals, violence is a cleansing force. It frees the native from his inferiority They had not gone far, when fear overcame the brothers. They were not sure that
complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores they would make it and were intimidated by the prospect of a cruel punishment in
his self-respect.” the case of being caught. Tubman, however, was not afraid and wanted to move
ahead. Her brothers had to drag her back to the plantation. Later on, she undertook
a second, successful, attempt on her own.

Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)

Speech Marcus Garvey 1938 Mental slavery in China

“We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because "Foreign devils come with their teaching, and
converts to Christianity, Roman Catholic and
whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the Protestant, have become numerous. These
mind… Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to [churches] are without human relations, but
develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man being most cunning have attracted all the
who uses his mind, because man is related to man under all greedy and covetous as converts, and to an
circumstances for good or for ill. If man is not able to protect himself unlimited degree they have practiced oppression,
until every good official has been corrupted, and,
from the other man he should use his mind to good advantage. It is covetous of foreign wealth, has become their
your mind that rules the body. You cannot go further than that mind to servant.”
seek truth and to know truth and to re-act to truth.”

Boxer rebellion: 1899-1901

The Righteous and Harmonious Fists

Mental slavery in India Academic approach: concept of mental slavery

Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945)

“In considering the political conquest of India by such a small country as A set of social institutions that creates and sustains a condition of the mind in such a way that it
England the first point that strikes one is as to how such a feat could be at all produces and reproduces knowledge, attitudes and skills that presents the colonized as inferior
possible.” and the colonizer as superior.
India had been invaded by new tribes and peoples over and over again, but
though they came as foreigners, they soon settled down and made India
their home. The foreigners would become members of the great Indian
family.
British were fostering “a slave mentality”: “The entire educational system
was built up on the British model and English was made the medium of
instruction, not only in the University but also in the secondary schools. In art
and architecture also, British models were imposed on the country. In fact, in
inaugurating the new educational system, the Government deliberately
stated that their object was to train up a nation who would be English in
everything, except in race. In the new schools, students began to think, to
talk, to dress and to eat as Englishmen would. The new generation turned
out by these schools was quite different from the old. They were no longer
Indians in their equipment but English.”

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Four aspects of mental slavery Mental slavery and colonialism: part of one of six dimensions
 Mental slavery is part of the system of colonialism 1. Economic dimension
 Mental slavery is not primarily about experiences of the colonizer and the 2. Political dimension
colonized. It is about how institutions shape these experiences.
3. Social dimension
 Mental slavery is not only a condition of the mind of the colonized that act
on the notion of inferiority. It is also about the condition of the mind of the 4. Cultural dimension: mental slavery
colonizer that act on the notion of superiority 5. Technological dimension
 The concept was not produced in the academia. It came from activist 6. Geographic dimension
Mental slavery is embedded in institutions in all dimensions. DTM is breaking
down these institutions.

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Eurocentrism and the liberation of the mind

Liberalism 1: freedom from authority
 Liberalism
“Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred
 Marxism
immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's own
understanding without the guidance of another. This immaturity is
self-incurred if its cause is not lack of understanding, but lack of
resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another.
The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude! Have
courage to use your own understanding!”

John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) Voltaire (1694-1778)

Liberalism 2: freedom of the individual from social Liberalism 3: freedom from religion
constraints
“What … is the rightful limit to the sovereignty of the individual over “Nothing can be more contrary to religion and the clergy
himself?”, he asks. “Where does the authority of society begin? How than reason and common sense “
much of human life should be assigned to individuality, and how much
to society?... Thus the mind itself is bowed to the yoke.”

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Karl Marx (1818-1883) Lenin (1870-1924)

Marxism 1: class analysis - base determines

superstructure Marxism 2: Lenin on class consciousness
The mode of production of material life conditions the general “There could not have been Social-Democratic [SH. true] consciousness among the
process of social, political and intellectual life. It is not the workers. It would have to be brought to them from without. The history of all
consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social countries shows that the working class, exclusively by its own effort, is able to
develop only trade union consciousness, i.e., the conviction that it is necessary to
existence that determines their consciousness… The ideas of the
combine in unions, fight the employers, and strive to compel the government to
ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas.“ pass necessary labour legislation, etc.. The theory of socialism, however, grew out
If the working class adheres to the ideas of the ruling class, then they of the philosophic, historical, and economic theories elaborated by educated
are in a state of “false class consciousness”. “True class representatives of the propertied classes, by intellectuals. By their social status the
consciousness” is when a class realizes that is there is a fundamental founders of modern scientific socialism, Marx and Engels, themselves belonged to
antagonism between the capitalist class and the working class the bourgeois intelligentsia.”
whereby the capitalist extracts labour power from the worker.

Paris Commune (1871)

Enlightenment outside the West: Chinese
Marxism 3: revolution and class consciousness liberalism
 Boxer rebellion: 1899-1901
“Having once got rid of the standing army and the police — the physical force elements of the
old government — the Commune was anxious to break the spiritual force of repression, the  Opium Wars: 1839-1842 and 1856-1860
"parson-power", by the disestablishment and disendowment of all churches as proprietary
 World War I 1914-1919: Japan occupied China –Shandong
bodies. The priests were sent back to the recesses of private life, there to feed upon the alms of
the faithful in imitation of their predecessors, the apostles. The whole of the educational  1919: Versailles Peace Conference – Europe refuses to support China. May Fourth
institutions were opened to the people gratuitously, and at the same time cleared of all Movement
interference of church and state. Thus, not only was education made accessible to all, but  What is Chinese identity and fate? Chinese culture was backward. China needed an
science itself freed from the fetters which class prejudice and governmental force had imposed Enlightenment like the West”
upon it.”
The intellectual liberation of the working class was a liberation from “false consciousness”, which included religion, and  New Culture Movement: The New Tide, New Education, Young China, Young World, Youth
a new education based on the scientific achievements of European Enlightenment. and Society, The New Voice of Society, New Society, The New Man, The New Learning, The
New Culture, The New Students

Seyd Ahmad Khān (1817-1898)

Enlightenment outside the West: the Muslim

world Adaptation to Western Enlightenments
M. Hodgson: “In the sixteenth century of our era, a visitor from Mars might well The English rule in India, in order to be good, must promise to be eternal; and
have supposed that the human world was on the verge of becoming Muslim.” it can never do so until the English people are known to us as friends and
Except for the Americas and Oceania Islam ruled in many parts of the world: the so-called Middle fellow subjects, than as rulers and conquerors.“
East, Asia (India and part of China), Indonesia, Northern Africa, Eastern and Central Europe. At In arts he argued for imitation of English literature: “It is essential that ideas
the beginning of the twentieth century Europe had taken over many of these countries through are taken from English poetry and expressed in Urdu.”
direct or indirect rule. How was this possible and what should be the response of Muslims?
He concluded: "I am in favour of the consolidation of the British Government,
not because of any love or loyalty to the British, but only because I see the
welfare of the Indian Muslims in that consolidation. And I feel that they can
emerge from the present state of decline only with the help of the British
government.”

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Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Afghānī (1838-1997) Ernest Renan (1823-1892)

Critique of Western Enlightenments Debate al-Afghānī and Ernest Renan - 1

“The Muslims must not turn to pure imitation of Europeans, as this will Renan:
• Muslim religion was by its very essence opposed to the development of science
open their countries to the acceptance of European rule. Instead, they • Arab people, by their nature, do not like either metaphysical sciences or philosophy
should find the inspiration for reform and science in their own religious
texts, especially the Koran. The latter, if properly interpreted, will be al-Afghānī: Muslim civilization saved science
• “Greeks and Romans walked with assurance over the vast field of science and philosophy. There came,
found to be compatible with modern values and even to predict them.” however, a time when their researches were abandoned and their studies interrupted. The monuments they
had built to science collapsed and their most precious books were relegated to oblivion. The Arabs, ignorant
and barbaric as they were in origin, took up what had been abandoned by the civilized nations, rekindled the
extinguished sciences, developed them and gave them a brilliance they had never had.”

Ernest Renan (1823-1892) Carlos Mariátegui (1894-1930)

Debate al-Afghānī and Ernest Renan - 2 Marxism outside the west: indigenismo
al-Afghānī: Muslim civilization saved science “Any treatment of the problem of the Indian … that fails or refuses to recognize it as a
“The French, the Germans, and the English were not so far from Rome and Byzantium as socio-economic problem is but a sterile, theoretical exercise destined to be completely
were the Arabs, whose capital was Baghdad. It was therefore easier for the former to discredited.”
exploit the scientific treasures that were buried in these two great cities. They made no “Although the Inca regime may be censured in the name of modern liberal concepts of
effort in this direction until Arab civilization lit up with its reflections the summits of the liberty and justice, the positive and material historical fact is that it assured the
Pyrénées and poured its light and riches on the Occident.” subsistence and growth of a population that came to ten million when the
conquistadors arrived in Peru, and that this population after three centuries of Spanish
“al-Afghānī was the strategist of defence; Sayyid Ahmad Khān was the strategist of defeat. domination had fallen to one million. Colonization stands condemned not from any
abstract, theoretical, or moral standpoint of justice, but from the practical, concrete,
and material standpoint of utility.”

Che Guevara (1928-1967) Che Guevara (1928-1967)

Marxism outside the west: The Cuban revolution - 1 Marxism outside the west: The Cuban revolution - 2
Lenin and the vanguard party: historical conditions for a revolution: Che Guevara on the lessons of the Cuban revolution:
“(1) when it is impossible for the ruling classes to maintain their rule without any change; when “We consider that the Cuban Revolution contributed three fundamental lessons to the conduct of
there is a crisis, in one form or another, among the “upper classes”, a crisis in the policy of the revolutionary movements in America. They are:
ruling class, leading to a fissure through which the discontent and indignation of the oppressed
classes burst forth. For a revolution to take place, it is usually insufficient for “the lower classes Popular forces can win a war against the army.
not to want” to live in the old way; it is also necessary that “the upper classes should be unable” It is not necessary to wait until all conditions for making revolution exist; the insurrection can create them.
to live in the old way;
In underdeveloped America the countryside is the basic area for armed fighting.
(2) when the suffering and want of the oppressed classes have grown more acute than usual;
Of these three propositions the first two contradict the defeatist attitude of revolutionaries or pseudo-
(3) when, as a consequence of the above causes, there is a considerable increase in the activity revolutionaries who remain inactive and take refuge in the pretext that against a professional army
of the masses, who uncomplainingly allow themselves to be robbed in “peace time”, but, in nothing can be done, who sit down to wait until in some mechanical way all necessary objective and
turbulent times, are drawn both by all the circumstances of the crisis and by the “upper classes” subjective conditions are given without working to accelerate them.”
themselves into independent historical action.
Without these objective changes, which are independent of the will, not only of individual groups
and parties but even of individual classes, a revolution, as a general rule, is impossible.

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Marxism outside the west: The Zapatistas - subcomandante Marcos Marxism and Liberalism in South Africa
“If we had been orthodox leftists, we would never have worked with native peoples. Now,
today, I believe there are many theories in crisis. Who would have thought that it would be
the native peoples who would provoke all of this? Not even in the Leninist conception of the SACP: “Ultimately, the only viable choice for Africa’s working people is the socialist path of development… Our
weakest link was it thought that it might be the native people, right? I told you that there working class is the decisive force to bring about the collapse of racism and victory in the national democratic
was a learning process at the beginning of our work here, albeit a forced one. It's not like revolution as a stage towards building a socialist South Africa.”
we said, Well, we are going to learn and see what happens. No! We were close-minded, like
any other orthodox leftist, like any other theoretician who believes that he knows the truth.. Nelson Mandela (1918-2013): From my reading of Marxist literature and from conversations with Marxists, I have
Ultimately the theoretical confronted the practical, and something happened - the result gained the impression that Communists regard the parliamentary system of the West as undemocratic and
was the EZLN. Therefore our combatants are right when they say, We are not Marxist- reactionary. But, on the contrary, I am an admirer of such a system. The Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights and
Leninists, we are Zapatistas. They are referring to this synthesis, this coming together, this the Bill of Rights, are documents which are held in veneration by democrats throughout the world. I have great
compatibility that incorporates - I'm going to be very schematic - the historical traditions of
struggle and resistance of native people and the necessity of a national revolution.” respect for British political institutions, and for the country's system of justice. I regard the British Parliament as
the most democratic institution in the world, and the independence and impartiality of its judiciary never fail to
arouse my admiration. The American Congress, that country's doctrine of separation of powers, as well as the
independence of its judiciary, arouse in me similar sentiments. I have been influenced in my thinking by both West
and East.”

Marxism and confucianism Chavismo: socialism of the 21st century

Mao Zedong: “China … has a semifeudal culture which reflects  Socialism as an ideology for social justice and equality
her semi-feudal politics and economy, and whose exponents  Not necessarily a planned economy; private ownership of means of production allowed
include all those who advocate the worship of Confucius, the
study of the Confucian canon, the old ethical code and the old  State enterprises
ideas in opposition to the new culture and new ideas.”
 Communal enterprises
Jinping: The spirit of innovation is the most distinct gift of the  Dignity, spirituality, nationalism
Chinese nation. As human civilization developed over 5000
years, the Chinese nation created a highly advanced culture. Our
ancestors invented papermaking, gunpowder, printing, and the
compass, made great achievements in numerous fields,
including astronomy, mathematics, medicine and agronomy,
and contributed countless technological innovations to the
world, which not only had a far-reaching influence on global
civilization, but also made us a world power for a long time."

15-8-2018 AMRIT APPLICATIONS 40

Aimé Césaire (1913-2008)

Rise and fall of the socialist bloc A decolonial critique of Marxism

Country Start End Country Start End “It is clear that our struggle — the struggle of colonial peoples against colonialism, the struggle of peoples of color
Soviet Union 7-11-1917 26-12-1991 East Germany 7-10-1949 3-10-1990 against racism—is more complex, or better yet, of a completely different nature than the fight of the French worker
Mongolia 24-11-1924 12-2-1992 Cuba 1-1-1959 against French capitalism, and it cannot in any way be considered a part, a fragment, of that struggle.”
Albania 29-11-1944 22-3-1992 South Yemen 30-11-1967 22-5-1990 “Their inveterate assimilationism; their unconscious chauvinism; their fairly simplistic faith, which they share with
Poland 28-6-1945 30-12-1989 Somalia 21-10-1969 26-1-1991 bourgeois Europeans, in the omnilateral superiority of the West; their belief that evolution as it took place in
Vietnam 2-9-1945 Congo-Brazzaville 3-1-1970 15-3-1992 Europe is the only evolution possible, the only kind desirable, the kind the whole world must undergo; to sum up,
Yugoslavia 29-11-1945 27-4-1992 Ethiopia 28-6-1974 27-5-1991 their rarely avowed but real belief in civilization with a capital C and progress with a capital P (as evidenced by their
Bulgaria 15-9-1946 7-12-1990 Cambodia 17-4-1975 1-5-1989 hostility to what they disdainfully call ‘cultural relativism’). All these flaws lead to a literary tribe that, concerning
Romania 30-12-1947 30-12-1989 Mozambique 25-6-1975 1-12-1990 everything and nothing, dogmatizes in the name of the party. It must be said that the French communists have had
Czechoslovakia 9-6-1948 29-3-1990 Angola 11-11-1975 27-8-1992 a good teacher: Stalin. Stalin is indeed the very one who reintroduced the notion of “advanced” and “backward”
North Korea 9-9-1948 19-2-1992 Benin 30-11-1975 1-3-1990
peoples into socialist thinking.”
Hungary 20-8-1949 23-10-1989 Laos 2-12-1975
China 1-10-1949 Afghanistan 27-4-1978 28-4-1992

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Aimé Césaire (1913-2008)

Three economic theories

A third narrative of liberation
Our struggle was a struggle against alienation… We must have a concrete consciousness of what Western economics Islamic economics
we are - that is, of the first fact of our lives: that we are black; that we were black and have a
history, a history that contains certain cultural elements of great value… Therefore we affirmed
that we were Negroes and that we were proud of it, and that we thought that Africa was not some
sort of blank page in the history of humanity; in sum, we asserted that our Negro heritage was
worthy of respect, and that this heritage was not relegated to the past, that its values were values
that could still make an important contribution to the world.”

Adam Smith Karl Marx

Conclusion: Decolonial thinking … A DTM theory of knowledge and lies

 Eurocentric epistemology
 did not start with academics nor did it start a few decades ago
 DTM notion of a concept
 is partially a response to colonialism.
 Errors, truth and lies
 is rooted in civilizations and intellectual traditions that existed before
colonialism.  Sources of knowledge
 Limitations of Eurocentric logic
 is a third narrative of liberation besides Eurocentric Liberalism and Marxism.
 Is both a critique of Eurocentrism and an alternative knowledge base

Why is epistemology so important? Was Columbus a hero or a criminal?

Theory of knowledge provides us with guidelines about what is valid knowledge and what is not.
Valid knowledge makes the distinction between true or false and between right or wrong. Valid
knowledge is codified in science and entrusts authority to knowledge producers. Valid
knowledge is scientific knowledge.
People act daily on valid knowledge. This knowledge gives them rules on how to act and how to
behave. Valid knowledge gives you the assurance that your acts and behaviour are justified.
Invalid knowledge does the reverse. You don’t want to act and behave on invalid knowledge.

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DTM epistemology Eurocentric epistemology - 1

The purpose of science is to create scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge refers to a
Stephen Small – University of California generalized body of laws and theories to explain a phenomenon or behavior of interest that are
Berkeley: “We might not know what the acquired using the scientific method.
Laws are observed patterns of phenomena or behaviors, while theories are systematic
truth is, but we certainly know what lies explanations of the underlying phenomenon or behavior.
are!” Scientific method refers to a standardized set of techniques for building scientific knowledge,
such as how to make valid observations, how to interpret results, and how to generalize those
results.
Scientific inquiry may take one of two possible forms: inductive or deductive.
In inductive research, the goal of a researcher is to infer theoretical concepts and patterns from
observed data.
In deductive research, the goal of the researcher is to test concepts and patterns known from
theory using new empirical data.
Hence, inductive research is also called theory-building research, and deductive research is
theory-testing research”.

Eurocentric epistemology - 2 Eurocentric epistemology - 3

The scientific method must satisfy four characteristics: The research cycle
Replicability: Others should be able to independently replicate or repeat a scientific study and
obtain similar, if not identical, results. “In the observation phase, we observe a natural or social phenomenon, event, or
behaviour that interests us. In the rationalization phase, we try to make sense of
Precision: Theoretical concepts, which are often hard to measure, must be defined with such
precision that others can use those definitions to measure those concepts and test that theory. the observed phenomenon, event, or behaviour by logically connecting the different
pieces of the puzzle that we observe, which in some cases, may lead to the
Falsifiability: A theory must be stated in a way that it can be disproven. Theories that cannot be construction of a theory. Finally, in the validation phase, we test our theories using a
tested or falsified are not scientific theories and any such knowledge is not scientific knowledge.
A theory that is specified in imprecise terms or whose concepts are not accurately measurable scientific method through a process of data collection and analysis, and in doing so,
cannot be tested, and is therefore not scientific. possibly modify or extend our initial theory.”
Parsimony: When there are multiple explanations of a phenomenon, scientists must always
accept the simplest or logically most economical explanation. This concept is called parsimony
or “Occam’s razor.” Parsimony prevents scientists from pursuing overly complex or outlandish
theories with endless number of concepts and relationships that may explain a little bit of
everything but nothing in particular.”

Eurocentric epistemology - 4 Eurocentric epistemology - 5

There is no different approach for knowledge about nature and knowledge about human beings How to deal with bias:
“Science can be grouped into two broad categories: natural science and social science. Natural science is the
science of naturally occurring objects or phenomena, such as light, objects, matter, earth, celestial bodies, or the “Theories may have implicit cultural assumptions (e.g., whether they apply to
human body. Natural sciences can be further classified into physical sciences, earth sciences, life sciences, and individualistic or collective cultures), temporal assumptions (e.g., whether they
others. Physical sciences consist of disciplines such as physics (the science of physical objects), chemistry (the apply to early stages or later stages of human behaviour), and spatial assumptions
science of matter), and astronomy (the science of celestial objects). Earth sciences consist of disciplines such as (e.g., whether they apply to certain localities but not to others). If a theory is to be
geology (the science of the earth). Life sciences include disciplines such as biology (the science of human bodies)
and botany (the science of plants). In contrast, social science is the science of people or collections of people, properly used or tested, all of its implicit assumptions that form the boundaries of
such as groups, firms, societies, or economies, and their individual or collective behaviours. Social sciences can that theory must be properly understood. Unfortunately, theorists rarely state their
be classified into disciplines such as psychology (the science of human behaviours), sociology (the science of
social groups), and economics (the science of firms, markets, and economies).” implicit assumptions clearly, which leads to frequent misapplications of theories to
problem situations in research.”

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A DTM critique
Marxist theory of knowledge
“Sense perception … must be the basis of all science… Natural science will in time incorporate into The Eurocentric epistemology does not distinguish between knowledge and lies and thus it is
itself the science of man, just as the science of man will incorporate into itself natural science: there not able to recognize lies that presents itself as knowledge. It does not acknowledge the
will be one science... The social reality of nature, and human natural science, or the natural science colonization of the mind.
of man, are identical terms.”
The Eurocentric epistemology uses the same research methods for knowledge about human
society and the natural word and thus is not able to grasp the essence of human relations in its
epistemology.
The Eurocentric epistemology is based on two-value logic (true or false) and thus is not able the
understand the logic of social and natural processes.

What is knowledge? A concept consists of five elements

1. Terminology
Knowledge: “Insights and understanding about the natural and social world as expressed in
concepts that describes and explains certain aspects of the social or natural world.” 2. Observation
3. Analysis
4. Theory
5. Ethics

The case of Columbus - 1 The case of Columbus - 2

1. Terminology: 3. Analysis:
◦ Discovery ◦ It is about science: the curiosity about finding a new route to Asia led to the discovery of
◦ A crime against humanity new lands: speaking from the position of Europeans
◦ the Europeans, because of greed, committed brutal acts of genocide and massive
2. Observation: selection of facts (information about the object of knowledge ) enslavement of the indigenous people with the occupation of their land. Speaking from
◦ the misguided journey of Christopher Columbus the position of the indigenous people
◦ the brutal acts of genocide against the indigenous people, the illegal occupation of their
land and the ensuing trans-Atlantic kidnapping and massive enslavement of Africans by
4. Theory:
Europeans ◦ The rise of modernity: progress, science, technology
◦ The decline of humanity and world civilization

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Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

The case of Columbus - 3 Eurocentric epistemology

5. Ethics:
◦ appreciation of what happened to the Americas “Our knowledge of truths … has an opposite,
◦ a critique and indignation of that process
namely error
An error should be corrected, while a lie should be opposed.
An error is false statement in an effort to find the truth.
A lie is a false statement in an effort to block the truth.

A concept with truth, errors and lies - 1 A concept with truth, errors and lies - 2
1. Terminology. In search of the truth you develop a terminology that is an 2. Observations (facts). In search of the truth you take all relevant acts into account that relates
adequate representation of the object of knowledge. If you make an error and to the concept. If you make an error, you might mistakenly leave out facts, but once you realize
that, you make a correction and include these facts in developing the concept. If you produce a
you use a term that does not adequately represent the concept, you correct that lie, you select facts that fits into your concept and intentionally leave out or twist the facts that
and use another term once you realize the error. If you produce a lie, you contradict your concept.
intentionally come up with a concept that is not an adequate representation, yet
you use an inadequate term because you want to paint a different picture of the
object that does no correspond with reality

A concept with truth, errors and lies - 3 A concept with truth, errors and lies - 4
3. Analysis. The analysis offers a framing and a storyline that makes us 4. Theory. A theory is a collection of interrelated concepts that provides a bigger
understand the concept. In search of the truth you develop a framing and a picture of the natural and social reality. In search for the truth you put your
storyline that matches the facts and provides a logical explanation of the concept in the context of a theory that provides a factual and logical extension of
concept. If you make an error in the storyline, you correct it by adapting the the storyline of the concept. If you make an error, you correct it by looking for a
storyline so it matches the facts and logic. If you produce a lie, you intentionally theory that better matches the facts and logics of the bigger narrative. If you
develop a storyline that matches your concept nut manipulate the facts and logic produce a lie, you select a theory that extends the storyline of your concept
so as to suit the concept. If you need to fantasize, then you put the fantasies into despite the facts and the ethics that go against the theory.
the storyline.

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Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (1931-2017)

A concept with truth, errors and lies - 5

1. Terminology
5. Ethics. A concept often contains ethics, a value judgment about what is right His titles: Our titles:
or wrong, good or bad. In searching the truth you acknowledge the ethics, make 1. Rivers of Gold. The rise of the Spanish empire, from 1. Rivers of Blood.
it explicit and defend your ground. If you make an error, you correct it by Columbus to Magellan. 2. The brutal occupation of America’s.
acknowledging the ethics, make it explicit and defend your ground. If you 2. The Golden Empire. Spain, Charles V, and the 3. World that have ended.
produce a lie, you hide or disguise the ethics as if your concept is objective and Creation of America.
3. World Without End. The global empire of Philip II
has nothing to do with ethics.

Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (1931-2017) Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (1931-2017)

2. Observations 3. Analysis: the empire of progress

His book:
Deleting the story of cheating and greed: Rodrigo de Triana “This book considers the first two generations of explorers, colonizers, governors, and missionaries who opened
the way to Spain’s vast American empire, which lasted over three hundred years, more than the British, the
French, the Dutch, or the Russian equivalents.”
DTM book
“This book considers the first two generations of murderers, thieves, barbarians, oppressors and exploiters of the
indigenous people of the Americas, who carried out the first genocide in colonialism and continued their
barbarism, for three hundred years.”

The story of kidnapping presented as voluntary cooperation

Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (1931-2017) Hugh Thomas, Baron Thomas of Swynnerton (1931-2017)

4. Theory: Western civilization 5. Ethics: objective science

No one writes better than Hugh Thomas on the heartbreaking clash of civilizations that “I have tried in this book to say what happened. In seeking the truth, I have not thought it
produced the Spanish Empire. necessary to speak of outrage on every page?...
Thomas puts his erudition to fine use … analyzing, with care and sensitivity, the thirty elastic Historians must not look for villains .
years that utterly redefined Western civilization If one is looking for villains in this matter, and some are, one should certainly indeed look at
royal families more severely than at Jewish ones: I am partly thinking of the rulers of Benin,
the kings of Ashanti, Congo, and Dahomey, and the Vili rulers of Loango, who sold great
numbers of slaves over many generations."

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Karl Popper (1902-1994)

A DTM critique of Popper

Popper’s criteria for falsification
1.It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory - if we look for 1. The separation of object and subject of knowledge in knowledge about humans.
confirmations.
2. Observation and reasoning as the only source of knowledge is sufficient for the natural
2.Confirmations should count only if they are the result of risky predictions; that is to say, if, world but inadequate for humans. There are other sources of knowledge that are specific
unenlightened by the theory in question, we should have expected an event which was
incompatible with the theory - an event which would have refuted the theory. for humans and provide concepts about humans and their societies that gives us more
insight than observation and reasoning can do. Relying on only one source leads us to
3.Every 'good' scientific theory is a prohibition: it forbids certain things to happen. The more a inadequate knowledge.
theory forbids, the better it is.
4.A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is nonscientific. Irrefutability is not a 3. By treating humans as object in nature rather than treating nature as part of the community
virtue of a theory (as people often think) but a vice. with humans Eurocentric epistemology ethics got hidden from knowledge. Thus it produces
invalid knowledge about humans and nature.
5.Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or to refute it. Testability is falsifiability;
but there are degrees of testability: some theories are more testable, more exposed to
refutation, than others; they take, as it were, greater risks.
6.Confirming evidence should not count except when it is the result of a genuine test of the
theory; and this means that it can be presented as a serious but unsuccessful attempt to falsify
the theory. (I now speak in such cases of 'corroborating evidence'.)

Orlando Patterson (1940- )

Five other sources of knowledge besides observation and reasoning

1. Innate knowledge - 1
1. Innate knowledge: knowledge with which humans are born.
“Freedom was a peculiarly Western value and ideal … “In precolonial African
2. Common sense: cumulative knowledge of a community that has been societies slavery was widespread and their release from slavery was not
passed on through generations to members of the community and is uncommon… the antithesis of slavery was never freedom in the Western sense
regarded as basic truths. (by which they mean personal freedom). What the ambitious slave sought, and
3. Social knowledge: knowledge that comes through social interaction with what the self-interested master offered, was the reduction of the slave's
other humans. marginality and his partial resocialization in the master's community."
4. Creativity: the gift of human to create new things.
5. Ethics: a sense of what is right or wrong that has become part of knowledge.

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)

1. Innate knowledge - 2
“Mr. Covey entered the stable with a long rope; and just as I was half out of the 1. Innate knowledge - 3
loft, he caught hold of my legs, and was about tying me. As soon as I found what
he was up to, I gave a sudden spring, and as I did so, he holding to my legs, I was “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few
brought sprawling on the stable floor. Mr. Covey seemed now to think he had me, expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the
and could do what he pleased; but at this moment - from whence came the spirit departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free. The gratification
I don’t know - I resolved to fight; and, suiting my action to the resolution, I seized afforded by the triumph was a full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death itself.
He only can understand the deep satisfaction which I experienced, who has himself repelled by force
Covey hard by the throat.” the bloody arm of enslavement. I felt as I never felt before. It was a glorious resurrection, from the
tomb of enslavement, to the heaven of freedom. My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed,
bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form,
the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact. I did not hesitate to let it be known of me,
that the white man who expected to succeed in whipping me, must also succeed in killing me.”

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Wang Yangming (1472-1529) Maduabuchi Dukor

1. Innate knowledge - 4 1. Innate knowledge - 5

"Knowledge is native to the mind; the mind naturally is able The role of intuition and innate knowledge in African philosophy:
to know… When [a parent] sees a child fall into a well it “Perception is defined as the apprehension of the world through the sense, or the
naturally knows what commiseration is. This is intuitive general exercise of it, or particular cases of its exercise, and also what is perceived.
On the other hand, intuition is a direct apprehension of truth, which is not the direct
knowledge of good, and is not attained through external result of reasoning or sense-perception.”
investigation."

René Descartes (1596-1650)

2. Common sense -1 2. Common sense - 2

Common sense is the cumulative knowledge of a community that has been passed on through
generations to members of the community and is regarded as basic truths. “I doubt whether I exist”
What to do?
1. Common sense: call 911 for a mental institution
2. Eurocentrism: call him a great philosopher

René Descartes (1596-1650) René Descartes (1596-1650)

2. Common sense - 3 2. Common sense - 4

How to replace common sense by phantasies: “hyperbolic doubt” (deliberately His leap from common sense to nonsense: “I proceeded to eradicate from my mind all the mistakes that
overexaggerating doubt): Four steps: might earlier have crept into it. Because our senses sometimes deceive us, I decided to suppose that nothing
was such as they lead us to imagine it to be. And because there are men who make mistakes in reasoning,
even about the simplest elements of geometry, and commit logical fallacies, I judged that I was as prone to
“The first was never to accept anything as true that I did not incontrovertibly know to error as anyone else, and I rejected as false all the reasoning I had hitherto accepted as valid proof. Finally,
be so… The second was to divide all the difficulties under examination into as many considering that all the same thoughts which we have while awake can come to us while asleep without any
one of them then being true, I resolved to pretend that everything that had ever entered my head was no
parts as possible, and as many as were required to solve them in the best way. The third more true than the illusions of my dreams. [here is the leap] But immediately afterwards I noted that, while I
was to conduct my thoughts in a given order, beginning with the simplest and most was trying to think of all things being false in this way, it was necessarily the case that I, who was thinking
easily understood objects, and gradually ascending, as it were step by step, to the them, had to be something; and observing this truth: I am thinking therefore I exist.”[i] In Latin (the language
in which many philosophical books were written at that time) “I think, therefore I exist” is translated as
knowledge of the most complex… The last was to undertake such complete “cogito, ergo sum”.
enumerations and such general surveys that I would be sure to have left nothing out.”
Don’t rely on theology, but on reason

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C.K. Raju (1954 - ) René Descartes (1596-1650)

2. Common sense - 5 2. Common sense - 6

“I might mistake a snake for a rope, but I don’t Descartes: The essence of a human being is
mistake an elephant for a rope.” thinking.
DTM: The essence of a human being is a
complex unity of characteristics: I shit, therefore
I am

René Descartes (1596-1650)

2. Common sense - 7 The limits of Eurocentric phantasies

I run, therefore I am Once Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and
doing as he pleased. He didn’t know he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up, and there he was, solid and
unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn’t know if he were Zhuang Zhou who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a
butterfly dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou.

Zhuang Zhou (369-301 BCE)

3. Social knowledge - 1 3. Social knowledge - 2

 How do you know that you are dreaming if you are the only person in the world?
 People are people through other people.
 Social knowledge is knowledge that is obtained through interaction with others and can not
 Knowledge about people is obtained
be obtained by an individual through other people

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Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

4. Creativity - 1 4. Creativity – 2: mind experiment - the speed of two falling balls with
unqual weight

Creativity is the ability to produce new ideas without the use of established methods of Aristotle: the heavy ball will fall with a higher speed than the light ball.
knowledge production. Galilei: Suppose you attach a light and a heavy ball to each other through a string. The heavy
ball would fall with the speed of H and the light with the speed of L. The value of H is higher
than L. In the Aristotelian logic the light ball will slow up the heavy one (acting as a kind of
drag). The speed of the combined system C would be slower than the speed of the heavy ball
falling alone (H > C). But the combined system is heavier than the heavy ball alone, so it should
fall faster (C > H). The absurd conclusion is that the heavy ball is both faster and slower than
the even heavier combined system. So without any observation we can say that they should hit
the ground at the same time.

Galileo (1564-1642
Galileo: “Without experiment, I am sure that the effect will happen as I tell you,
because it must happen that way”.

5. Ethics - 1 5. Ethics – 2: The ethics of Eurocentrism

 First, you deny the relevance of belief systems in knowledge production and claim a position of
 A concept has an ethical component. In Eurocentric epistemology ethics stands on its own neutrality.
and is not part of knowledge production. Ethics is about right or wrong, not about truth and
falsehood.  Second, you need to claim that your knowledge is universal. Knowledge ceased to be diverse with
different perspectives that are valid. It becomes monolithic.
 What is the source of ethics? That is the belief system that a community upholds.  Third, the claim of universalism goes with a division of valid and invalid knowledge. That is easily
transformed in superior and inferior knowledge. Superior knowledge follows the epistemological rules
van Eurocentric canon. Inferior knowledge is knowledge that is produced outside this canon. With
superiority comes arrogance. And arrogance is not about knowledge, but about ethics.

The ethics of Eurocentrism is hidden in claims of neutrality, objectivity, universalism and superiority.

Carl Linneaus (1707-178)

5. Ethics – 3: The ethics in natural science 5. Ethics – 3: The ethics in natural science – pachamama
 Hinduism: the cow as a
sacred animal
 Eurocentrism: the cow as
Bos Taurus

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Five other sources of knowledge besides observation and reasoning The limitations of Eurocentric logic
1. Innate knowledge: knowledge with which humans are born.  An important element in a concept is the storyline and the logic that goes with it. Logic is a
set of rules for reasoning, for building the storyline and arguing a proposition. Logic
2. Common sense: cumulative knowledge of a community that has been determines the validity of an argument.
passed on through generations to members of the community and is
regarded as basic truths.  The canon of Eurocentric epistemology is based on two-value logic: true or false

3. Social knowledge: knowledge that comes through social interaction with

other humans.
4. Creativity: the gift of human to create new things.
5. Ethics: a sense of what is right or wrong that has become part of knowledge.

Two value logic: Aristotle DTM critique: syllogism does not always lead to valid knowledge
 All men are mortal.  All white men are devils.
 Socrates is a man.  Columbus is a white man.
 Socrates is mortal.  Columbus is a devil.
The conclusion is true because of the rule of syllogism. The conclusion logically flows from the
first and second proposition.

Mohist school China (722–481 BCE ) Context 1: What is shared between propositions
Not the structure of the logic that determines its validity, but the context of its proposition.  Black horses are horses (1).
There are three types of context.
 Riding black horses is riding horses (2).
 What is share in both proposition is that in (1) and (2) the essential shared
characteristic is “riding”. In (1) and (2) “riding” is a shared property of both
black horses and riding horses. Therefore you can use the property of
“riding” to connect (1) and (2) in a conclusion. The conclusion is valid.

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Context 2: What is distinct between proposition Context 3: What is both common and distinct
 A carriage is wood (1).  When a horse is required (you want a horse), a yellow horse, or a black one
 Riding a carriage is not riding wood (2).
may be brought forward. The colour is distinct but not required. The
required property is that of a horse. And that is common in both a black and
 In this case “riding” is not a shared property of a carriage and wood. It distinguishes the yellow horse.
carriage from wood. Therefore you can not use the property of “riding” to connect (1) and
(2). The conclusion is invalid.  When one requires a white horse, a yellow or a black horse cannot be
brought forward. The colour is distinct and required. The common property
of a horse is not sufficient for the requirement.
 The validity of the conclusion depends on the specific requirements.

Aritstotle’s laws of logic

Acholi people from Southern Sudan on the excluded middle
1. The law of identity: A equals A. A thing is always equal to or identical with itself. Example: Victor Ocaya: “This principle says that between a statement and its negation there is no other alternative.
Columbus is Columbus. The Acholi language, however, has a peculiar way of repeating an adjective in a manner that seems to
suggest a third possible alternative between a statement and its negation. For example:
2. The law of (non)contradiction: A is not non-A. A thing can not be different from itself. It is a 1 Piny lyet: It is hot. (P)
different way of formulating the first law. Example: Columbus is not a dog.
2 Piny pe lyet: It is not hot. (P)
3. The law of excluded middle: If A equals A, it cannot equal non-A. Everything is and must be
3 Piny lyet-lyet: It is rather hot. (?)
either one of two mutually exclusive things. Example: a thing can not be Columbus and a
dog. It is either Columbus or a dog. In (3) the English ‘‘rather’’ does not capture the Acholi idea of lyet-lyet, which is somewhere between (1)
and (2). Piny lyet-lyet quite unambiguously asserts that it is neither ‘‘hot’’ nor ‘‘not hot’’ and the law of
excluded middle rules out just this possibility. This is evidence against the law of excluded middle, from an
Acholi standpoint.”

Indian philosophy of Jainism Seven value logic

 The two value logic is regarded as inadequate to understand reality 1. Possible, something is true. Example: Columbus is dead.

 The world is not only black or white. There are many possible perceptions of 2. Possible, something is false. Example: Columbus is not dead.
reality. No single proposition can capture the complexity of reality. Therefore 3. Possible, something is true and false. Example: Columbus is dying: dead and not dead.
it is mandatory to put a prefix to every proposition that expresses this by
using the term “syad”, which means “in some ways”, “from a perspective”, 4. Possible, something is unassertible. Example: We can not assert whether Columbus is dead
or not dead.
“arguably”, “possibly”. The Jains have developed a seven-value logic based
on the notion of true, false and unassertible (can not be described, it is 5. Possible, something is true and unassertible. Example: Columbus is dead, but we can not
impossible to make statements about it). assert that.
6. Possible, something is false and unassertible. Example: Columbus is not dead, but we can
not assert that.
7. Possible, something is true and false and unassertible. Example: Columbus is dead and not
dead, but we can not assert that.

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George Hegel (1770-1831)

Are they the same: two value logic can not answer this Laws of dialectics in Eurocentrism
1. The transformation of quantity into quality
2. The change of possibility into inevitability
3. Evolution through contradictions
4. The conflict between form and content
5. Negation of the negation

1975 2014

Application of DTM epistemology Racism

 Ability to articulate a decolonial critique  “A global system of economic, social, political and cultural institutions that organize the
relationship between human beings on the basis of superiority and inferiority.”
 Ability to develop alternative knowledge based on concepts that are already there and
create new ones  not about feelings (prejudices, antagonistic feelings)
 nor about human interaction in the personal sphere (‘everyday racism’),

Characteristics The authority of knowledge production

 The organization of human relations along the lines of superiority and The collection of institutions in a society that is regarded as the source of valid knowledge.
inferiority in economics, social relations, political systems and culture.
 The production of concepts of superiority/inferiority to justify the system.
 The link of these concepts to the character of the authority of knowledge
production.
 The creation and institutionalization of mechanisms for colonizing the mind.

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Three concepts of racism The authority of knowledge at the start of colonialism

 Theological racism: the concept of superiority/inferiority that is argued from theology and is  Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492–1584): "We came here to serve God and the king, and also to
linked to theologians as the authority of knowledge production: 1500-1650 get rich“.
 Biological racism: the concept of superiority/inferiority that is argued from philosophy and  James Ussher (1581-1656): God created the universe (including life) on October 22, 4004
the natural sciences and is linked to philosophers and natural scientists as the authority of BCE
knowledge production: 1650-1850
 1517: critique of Church from within theology (Reformation) and not from outse
 Cultural racism: the concept of superiority/inferiority that is argued from the social sciences (Enlightenment)
and is linked to social scientists as the authority of knowledge production: 1850-2017

Religion and colonization Inferior humans beings

Where they animals or humans? Tomás Ortiz, Bishop of Santa Marta: “They are like asses, stupid, crazed, having
no sense, considering it nothing to kill and be killed; they don’t tell the truth
unless it benefits them, they are inconsistent, have the vices of beasts, are not
capable of understanding doctrine, are traitors, cruel, vengeful, and never
pardon, lazy, thieves of low and mean judgment, are as cowardly as rabbits, dirty
as pigs, they eat lice, spiders, and raw worms, have no art or human skills, are
like brute animals. In all, I say, that never did God create people with so much
vice and animal behavior.”

Friar Antonio Montesinos (1475-1540)

Church as authority for colonization: 1513 - Requirimiento Liberation theology

“acknowledge the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world, and the high priest “Tell me by what right and with what justice do you hold these Indians in such
called Pope, and in his name the King and Queen Doña Juana our lords, in his place, as superiors horrible servitude? With what authority have you waged such detestable war,
and lords and kings of these islands.” bringing havoc and death never before seen on these people who were living
“If you do not do this, and maliciously make delay in it, I certify to you that, with the help of God, peacefully and calmly on their lands? How can you keep them so exhausted
we shall powerfully enter into your country, and shall make war against you in all ways and and oppressed, without giving them food or curing their illnesses, which were
manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of their caused by the excessive work you have forced upon them and by which you
Highnesses; we shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, cause their deaths, or more accurately put, by which you murder them. All of
and as such shall sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take this so you can daily acquire more gold. Are these not human beings? Do they
away your goods, and shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can.” not have rational spirits? Are you not obliged to love them as you love
yourselves? Do you not understand this? Do you not feel this? How can you
remain lethargically in such a deep slumber? Be assured that living like this
you cannot save yourselves any more than can the Moors or the Turks, who
do not have or want the faith of Jesus Christ.”

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1542: the New Laws against population decline 1550: Debate of Valladolid
“We ordain and command that from hence forward for no cause of war nor any other whatsoever,
though it be under the title of rebellion, nor by ransom nor in other manner can an Indian be
made a slave, and we will that they be treated as our vassals of the Crown of Castile since such “Is it lawful for the King of Spain to
they are.” wage war on the Indians, before
preaching the faith to them, in
order to subject them to his rule, so
that afterward they may be more
easily instructed in the faith?”

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda Bartholomé de Las Casas

(1494-1573) (1484-1566

Arguments based on Sepúlveda

Theory: 1. The indigenous people are barbarians and inferior to the Spaniards.
◦ Saint Augustine (354-430) Therefore a war against them is justified, because inferior people should be
◦ Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) ruled by superior people.
◦ Aristotle (384-322 BCE) 2. The indigenous people commit crimes against natural law: idolatry and
Empirical facts sacrifice of humans to their god.
◦ Sepúlveda: work of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés 3. The indigenous people oppress and kill innocent people.
◦ Las Casas: forty years of experience in the Americas
4. War may be waged against infidels in order to prepare the way for preaching
the Faith.

Las Casas on empirical data Las Casas on barbarism

"It is not surprising that Oviedo reviles the Indians with so many slanderous lies, and there are Four kinds:
two reasons for this. The first is that he was one of those looters who went to the mainland in
1513 at the time of Pedrarias [Dávila]. They, before anyone else, began at the province of Darién,  loose and broad sense of the word means any cruel, inhuman, wild, and
which stretches to the gulf of Urabá, and laid waste to the whole mainland with complete merciless man acting against human reason
inhuman savagery. They spared neither women, children, or the aged, and even burned men alive
so that they might steal their gold, divide the other men among themselves, that is, enslaved  those who do not have a written language that corresponds to the spoken
them… Oviedo should try to make reparation by offering restitution for these detestable one
obscenities, rather than by his accusing slanders and shameless lies defame a gentle and decent  those who, either because of their evil and wicked character or the
people." barrenness of the region in which they live, are cruel, savage, scottish, stupid,
and strangers to reason
 those who do not acknowledge Christ

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Las Casas on crime of idolatry, sacrifice of humans and eating of human flesh Las Casas on oppression and killing of innocent people
 Christians don’t have jurisdiction over people who don’t live in their territory.  A benefit is not conferred on a person against his will
 God is the only one that has the power to pass the final judgment  Saving a few innocent people by killing many innocent people does not make sense.
 The crime of human sacrifice might actually not be a crime if it is a sacrifice  Spreading the gospel is an aim of the Spanish invasion of the Americas and this is obstructed
to God by these practices.

 Human sacrifice occurs on a small scale, so it should not been blown out of  God is the ultimate judge, not the Spaniards
proportion.
 The eating of human flesh might not be a crime
 No evidence of cannibalism on a large scale

Cuauhtémoc (1495-1525)

Las Casas on on war against infidels in order to prepare the way for preaching the Faith The Indigenous response
 Proper method of conversation in Christianity is not force "Our Sun has gone down. Our Sun has been lost from view and has left us in complete darkness. But we know it will return
again, that it will rise again to light us anew.
 Conversion to Christianity is a benefit for the converts, but that benefit can not bestowed upon them
if they don’t want it. But while it is there in the Mansion of Silence, let’s join together, let’s embrace each other and in the very center of our
being hide all that our hearts love and we know is the Great Treasure.
 The combination of force and preaching the gospel is ineffective Let us hide our Temples, our schools, our sacred soccer game, our youth centers, our houses of flowery song so that only
 The combination of theft of gold, rape, violence and preaching the gospel gives a false message about our streets remain. Our homes will enclose us until our New Sun rises.
Christianity to the Indigenous people. These are not methods of Christians but of Muslims. Most honorable fathers and most honorable mothers, may you never forget to guide your young ones, teach your
children, while you live how good it has been and will be.
 Experience shows that force is not needed with the Indigenous people
Until now our beloved Anahuac sheltered and protected our destinies that our ancestors and our parents enthusiastically
 There is only one reason to use force in the conversation of the Indigenous people: “The Church can received and seeded in our being.
justifiably wage war only against those unbelievers who would maliciously prevent the spread of a
faith, either by trying to make those who had already received it abandon it or by placing obstacles in Now we will instruct our children how to be good. They will raise themselves up and gain strength and as goodness make
the way of those who, in all probability, would come to believe.” real their great destiny in this, our beloved mother Anahuac."

Signifance of the debate Las Casas and black enslavement

D. Castro, “Valladolid was little more than a confrontation between two faces of In 1517 some settlers asked the Spanish king for license for the trade in enslaved
the same empire. One belonged to the colonists and was represented by Africans. They used the argument of relieving the burden on the Indigenous
Sepúlveda; it demanded a free hand in the exploitation of Spanish territories and population. L. Clayton: “Las Casas picked up on the idea, and, back in Spain in
its people as the colonists saw fit. The other was represented by Las Casas, who 1517 – 1519, he suggested to young King Charles ’ s counsellors that a license be
advocated a more benevolent and systematic exploitation while positioning the issued to import Negro slaves directly from Spain or Africa to the islands.”
crown as the overriding regulator of the exploitation of the colonies and their He later regretted the advice.
people in a rational and productive manner."

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Biological racism: 1650-1850

John Locke (1632-1704) – philosopher of the Enlightenment
 Authority of knowledge production: shifts from theology to philosophy and natural sciences; start of
European Enlightenment "Every freeman of Carolina shall have absolute power and
 Philosophy: authority over his negro slaves, of what opinion or religion
 Separates science from theology
 The ethics of Eurocentrism is hidden in claims of neutrality, objectivity, universalism and superiority. soever."
 Opens the way for Eurocentric natural sciences detached from ethics Locke, J. (1824): The works of John Locke. Volume the ninth. London, p. 196.

 Natural sciences
 Use biology to classify human beings as superior and inferior (is ethics not science)
 Link to the institutions of global economy and trans-Atlantic enslavement

 Philosophy become racist

Charles de Montesquieu (1689-1755) (Separation of powers: legislative branch, judiciary

branch, executive branch)
Voltaire (1694-1778)
“Those concerned are black from head to toe, and they have such flat noses “Their round eyes, their flattened nose, their lips which are always large,
that it is almost impossible to feel sorry for them. One cannot get into one's their differently shaped ears, the wool of their head, that very measure of
mind that god, who is a very wise being, should have put a soul, above all a their intelligence, place prodigious differences between them and the other
good soul, in a body that was entirely black… A proof that Negroes do not species of men… And they are not men, except in their stature, with the
have common sense is that they make more of a glass necklace than of one faculty of speech and thought at a degree far distant to ours. Such are the
of gold, which is of such great consequence among nations having a police. ones that I have seen and examined… And one could say that if their
It is impossible for us to assume that these people are men because if we intelligence is not of another species than ours, then it is greatly inferior.
assumed they were men one would begin to believe that we ourselves were They are not capable of paying much attention; they mingle very little, and
not Christians.” they do not appear to be made either for the advantages or the abuses of
our philosophy.” Mellow, J. (2013): Enlightenment Racism: Voltaire. http://jamesmelov.blogspot.nl/2013/07/enlightenment-racism-
Montesquieu, Ch. De (1989): The Spirit of Laws. Cambridge Text in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge, p. 250. Origineel 1748. voltaire.html. Accessed 6 May 2015.

David Hume (1711-1776) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

“I am apt to suspect the negroes, and in general all the other species of men (for there are four or five “The Negroes of Africa have by nature no feeling that rises above the ridiculous. Mr. Hume
different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites. There scarcely ever was a civilized nation of any challenges anyone to adduce a single example where a Negro has demonstrated talents,
other complexion than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation. No
and asserts that among the hundreds of thousands of blacks who have been transported
ingenious manufactures amongst them, no arts, no sciences. On the other hand, the most rude and
barbarous of the whites such as the ancient Germans, the present Tartars, have still something eminent
elsewhere from their countries, although very many of them have been set free,
about them, in their valour, form of government, or some other particular. Such a uniform and constant nevertheless not a single one has ever been found who has accomplished something great
difference cou1d not happen, in so many countries and ages, if nature had not made an original in art or science or shown any other praiseworthy quality, while among the whites there
distinction between these breeds of men. Not to mention our colonies, there are negroe slaves are always those who rise up from the lowest rabble and through extraordinary gifts earn
dispersed all over Europe, of whom none ever discovered any symptoms of ingenuity; though low respect in the world. So essential is the difference between these two human kinds, and it
people, without education, will start up amongst us, and distinguish themselves in every profession. In seems to be just as great with regard to the capacities of mind as it is with respect to
Jamaica, indeed, they talk of one negroe as a man of parts and learning; but it is likely he is admired for color.” Kant, I. (1992): Observations on the feeling of the beautiful and sublime. in: Kant, I.
slender accomplishments, like a parrot, who speaks a few words plainly.” (1992): Lectures on Logic, pp. 18-62. Origineel 1764. Cambridge University Press.
Hume, D. (1994): Political Essays. Cambridge. Original 1777, p. 86.
Cambridge, p. 59.

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George Hegel (1770-1831) Biological racism

“The Negro, as already observed, exhibits the natural man in his
completely wild and untamed state. We must lay aside all thought
of reverence and morality — all that we call feeling — if we would
rightly comprehend him; there is nothing harmonious with
humanity to be found in this type of character.”
Hegel, G. (2001): The Philosophy of History. Batoche Books. Ontario. Origineel 1837, p. 110-111.

Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Insult as sciences: 1 - Classification of human races: physics and ethics Insult as sciences – 2: Gorilla and African
1. The Americanus: red, choleraic, righteous; black, straight, thick hair; stubborn, zealous,
free; painting himself with red lines, and regulated by customs.
2. The Europeanus: white, sanguine, browny; with abundant, long hair; blue eyes; gentle, “The inability to move the ears in man and several apes is, however, partly
acute, inventive; covered with close vestments; and governed by laws.
3. The Asiaticus: yellow, melancholic, stiff; black hair, dark eyes; severe, haughty, greedy;
compensated by the freedom with which they can move the head in a horizontal
covered with loose clothing; and ruled by opinions. plane, so as to catch sounds from all directions. It has been asserted that the ear of
4. The Afer or Africanus: black, phlegmatic, relaxed; black, frizzled hair; silky skin, flat nose, man alone possesses a lobule; but "a rudiment of it is found in the gorilla and, as I
tumid lips; females without shame; mammary glands give milk abundantly; crafty, sly, hear from Prof. Preyer, it is not rarely absent in the negro.”
lazy, cunning, lustful, careless; anoints himself with grease; and governed by caprice.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Arthur de Gobineau (1816-1882)

Insult as science 3: Evolution of man
On the inequality of races
• White race = superior, intelligent
At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races • Yellow race: mediocre
of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout • Black and brown race: stupid
the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor
Schaaffhausen has remarked will no doubt be exterminated. The break between
man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a
more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low
as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.

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Theology: the change of Jesus from a brown palestian into a white Swede
Classification of races by Gobineau

Intelligent Mediocre Stupid

The rise of White Enlightenment and the rise of trans Atlantic slavery The black man as a nobleman: blackness not linked to inferiority

Painting from 1500 by Belgian painter Jan van Mostaert:

nobleman visits queen of Austria

African as a prince Black king visits Jesus

Three kings visit at the

birth of Jesus Christ by
Rafael Sanzio (1483-
African prince visits European court by Nicolaes
1520)
Berchem (1650)

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Cultural racism: 1850-

Basis cultural racism: theory of phases
 1850--: the rise of social sciences, the legal abolition of enslavement and the colonization of  All human beings may be equal biologically, but not all cultures are equal
Asia, Middle East and the rest of Africa
 Everything develops from a lower and simple phase to a higher and more complex phase,
 The articulation of superiority/inferiority is no longer based on biology but on culture like Darwin’s concept of lower and higher life forms
 Western society represents the higher and most complex phase of human civilization and
culture

August Comte (1798-1857)

Social darwinism founder of sociology and positivism
 Herbert Spencer (1820-1903): The strong should see their wealth and power Law of three stages (law of human progress)
increase while the weak should see their wealth and power decrease:
1. Theological stage: explanation by personified deities
survival of the fittest
2. Metaphysical stage: explanation by impersonal abstract concepts, an
 Thomas Malthus (1766-1834): increase of population stops at the
abstract God.
boundaries of food supply, the weakest will not survive (law of nature)
3. Positivist stage: scientific explanation based on observation, experiment, and
 Nazism took over the concepts and social darwinism got discredited
comparison
The West is in the positivist stage

Max Weber (1864-1920) Marx and Engels: stages of modes of production

 Europe is advanced: technological, economical and cultural. Why?  Primitive-communal. Societies where primitive gathering, fishing and hunting form the base of the
economy. The production is so meager that they must be shared equally in order to avoid death by
 Europe has the best religion: Protestantism. Not crimes of colonialism but the mentality of starvation.
hard work, rational conduct and economic insight has made it possible  Asiatic mode of production: the communal groups living in villages ruled by chieftains, clans, priest-
kings, who perform trading, military of irrigation-directing functions for the whole. The extract a
surplus from the communes through taxes. So there is a social differentiation in the community.
 Ancient, Classical or slave mode of production. The work is done by slaves. They themselves are the
property of slave owners.
 Feudal. The ultimate producer is a serf, part of whose time must be given to work for his lord and part
remains to him to till his own soil.
 Capitalist society: modern society based on private ownership of the means of production: everything
becomes a commodity.

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Criteria for stages

DTM argument
 Technology
 Economics
 Scientific development
 DTM: civilization and morality

A society can be advanced in technology and

economics, but backward in morality and
culture

Building blocks of DTM theory Questions and discussion

 A third narrative of liberation
 Epistemology: truth, errors, lies, logic, conceps
 Basis theory of knowledge: three phases of racism from which to look at knowledge
production
 Application to social and natural sciences in different ways

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