Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

the evidence it was based on and
culture,
conclusions drawn from it. His critique
the
severe on both Mead’s methodology
was
integrity: he painted her as a young
and
fundamentally misunderstanding
ethnographer
of the culture she was studying, selecting
aspects
that suited her and generalizing her
evidence
too far. He also claimed that Mead
conclusions
tricked into believing stories of sexual
was
by her female informants, who were
escapades
fact joking. Of course, Margaret Mead was not
in
to respond.
around
debate raged for years. Some were and
The
convinced by Freeman, and even
remained
refer to the episode as an exposé and
today
necessary corrective of the anthropological
a
that cautions us against inflating
record
reputations of iconic intellectuals. The
the
of anthropology was confronted with
field
disagreements about standards of
deep
thesovereignty of analysis, the
evidence,
of interpretation and the
disinterestedness
of contested methodological rigour and
Issues
integrity are explored in different
professional
throughout this chapter. What is
contexts
about this example is that it draws our
important
also to the dynamics of the encounters
attention
Western researchers and colonized
between
Indigenous Peoples. This is what makes
and
episode relevant today beyond the topic of
this
history. A lot has been said about
anthropological
and Freeman, but what of the Samoans
Mead
launched these anthropologists’ careers?
who
the controversy scrutinized what we know
While
human culture and biology, and how we
about
it, the Samoans at the centre were largely
know
anthropological literature is riddled with
The
of representation. In some ways it is
problems
central problem of the discipline. If Mead
the
right that culture so powerfully shapes
was
then we must pay special attention to
societies,
cultures of academic and other knowledge-
the
institutions. We see this influence
producing
students start sounding like the people
when
that echoing in our voices are the
anthropology
of our ancestors. To honour the diverse
voices
in which anthropology is being practised
ways
projects such as the Decanonizing
globally,
syllabus offer neglected but
anthropology
alternatives to mainstream texts.
deserving
this might be of particular interest to
While
of anthropology, the lesson for TOK
students
terms: site: footnotesblog.
Search
Decanonizing
com
learners and knowers, we are personally
As
for the knowledge we have
responsible
do not have, as we move on to II.3,
and
the acquisition of knowledge in the
exploring
about one discipline in the human
Think
that you study.
sciences
Who are the influential thinkers that have
1.
the discipline?
shaped
whether and how your
Consider
of this discipline has been
understanding
by the particular set of thinkers or
shaped
you have been given access to.
ideas
(a) Do you have a responsibility to seek
2.
historically underrepresented
out
What value, for your own knowledge
(b)
this discipline, do you see in such
of
If you were to seek out historically underrepresented
3.
perspectives, where would
start, and what questions would
you
ask? you
expand on this issue in III.1 with an
We
of who the humans are in the
examination
II. Perspectives
II. Perspectives
humansciences.
For reflection
Who is represented by the human
validity of conclusions.
sciences?
perspectives?
left out of the conversation.
an exercise?
human sciences.
they study. It is, after all, one of the lessons of
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