Southern theory : the global dynamics of knowledge in the social sciences

That means settling down with specifc texts and trying to understand, in some detail, how they work. The texts partly chose themselves by being available in Australian libraries, or accessible to a traveller. I can read several languages, but only English with complete fluency, so I have depended a good deal on PART I Northern theory Index Southern Theory presents the case for a radical rethinking of social science and its relationships to knowledge, power and democracy on a world scale. Mainstream social science pictures the world as understood by the educated and affluent in Europe and North America. From Weber and Keynes to Friedman and Foucault, theorists from the global North dominate the imagination of social scientists, and the reading lists of students, all over the world. For most of modern history, the majority world has served social science only as a data mine. Yet the global South does produce knowledge and understanding of society. Through vivid accounts of critics and theorists, Raewyn Connell shows how social theory from the world periphery has power and relevance for understanding our changing world—from al-Afghani at the dawn of modern social science, to Raúl Prebisch in industrialising Latin America, Ali Shariati in revolutionary Iran, Paulin Hountondji in post-colonial Benin, Veena Das and Ashis Nandy in contemporary India, and many others. With clarity and verve, Southern Theory introduces readers to texts, ideas and debates that have emerged from Australia’s Indigenous people, from Africa, Latin America, and south and south-west Asia. It deals with modernisation, gender, race, class, cultural domination, neoliberalism, violence, trade, religion, identity, land, and the structure of knowledge itself. Southern Theory shows how this tremendous resource has been disregarded by mainstream social science. It explores the challenges of doing theory in the periphery, and considers the role Southern perspectives should have in a globally connected system of knowledge. Southern Theory draws on sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, economics, philosophy and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for social science in the 21st century. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Introduction 8 Acknowledgments 16 Part I: Northern theory 18 1 Empire and the creation of a social science 20 2 Modern general theory and its hidden assumptions 44 3 Imagining globalisation 66 Part II: Looking south 86 4 The discovery of Australia 88 Part III: Southern theory 104 5 Indigenous knowledge and African Renaissance 106 6 Islam and Western dominance 128 7 Dependency, autonomy and culture 156 8 Power, violence and the pain of colonialism 182 Part IV: Antipodean refl ections 210 9 The silence of the land 212 10 Social science on a world scale 228 References 250 Index 280 hidden,assumptions;,Imagining,globalisation;,African,Renaissance hidden assumptions,Imagining globalisation,African Renaissance Southern Theory presents the case for a radical re-thinking of social science and its relationships to knowledge, power and democracy on a world scale. Mainstream social science pictures the world as understood by the educated and affluent in Europe and North America. From Weber and Keynes to Friedman and Foucault, theorists from the global North dominate the imagination of social scientists, and the reading lists of students, all over the world. For most of modern history, the majority world has served social science only as a data mine. Yet the global South does produce knowledge and understanding of society. Through vivid accounts of critics and theorists, Raewyn Connell shows how social theory from the world periphery has power and relevance for understanding our changing world from al-Afghani at the dawn of modern social science, to Raul Prebisch in industrialising Latin America, Ali Shariati in revolutionary Iran, Paulin Hountondji in post-colonial Benin, Veena Das and Ashis Nandy in contemporary India, and many others. With clarity and verve, Southern Theory introduces readers to texts, ideas and debates that have emerged from Australia's Indigenous people, from Africa, Latin America, south and south-west Asia. It deals with modernisation, gender, race, class, cultural domination, neoliberalism, violence, trade, religion, identity, land, and the structure of knowledge itself. Southern Theory shows how this tremendous resource has been disregarded by mainstream social science. It explores the challenges of doing theory in the periphery, and considers the role Southern perspectives should have in a globally connected system of knowledge. Southern Theory draws on sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, economics, philosophy and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for social science in the 21st century In Southern Theory Raewyn Connell presents the case for a new `world social science' - one that is inclusive of many voices - by arguing for a more democratic global recognition of social theory from societies outside the dominant European and North American metropole. Intellectual production of the majority `southern' world does in fact include theory, though its contribution is often marginalised and intellectually discredited by the metropole. Connell shows how social theory about the modern world from peripheral societies is equal in intellectual rigour and is often of greater political relevance to our changing world. Beginning with an examination of the hidden assumptions of modern general theory, Southern Theory looks to the `southern' social experience and the theories that have emerged from Australia, Indigenous peoples, Latin America, India, Africa, Islam and other post-colonial societies, as sources of important and vital contributions to world social science. These myriad theories offer valuable perspectives so crucial to the application of social theory in the contemporary world, having the power to transform the influence of the metropolitan hegemony on social thought by mutual regard and interaction. Southern Theory is a major new work in social theory, drawing on anthropology, history, psychology, philosophy, economics and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for the social sciences in the 21st century. -- Publisher description from http://politybooks.com (Sep. 26, 2011) In Southern Theory leading sociologist Raewyn Connell presents the case for a new 'world social science' - one that is inclusive of many voices - by arguing for a more democratic global recognition of social theory from societies outside the dominant European and North American metropole.