The Confrontation of Modern and Traditional Knowledge Systems in Development

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Communication
• Main Author: Howard, Pat
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) 1994
• Subjects: Communication; First Nations
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.22230/cjc.1994v19n2a808; http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/808/714; https://cjc.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.22230/cjc.1994v19n2a808

The development project in both capitalist and socialist contexts has augmented the power of technocrats while invalidating alternative knowledge systems rooted in the traditions of local communities, thereby disenfranchising them. Recreating space for the autonomy of such communities requires cross-cultural communication in a collaborative effort to examine the limitations of the reductionist sciences and how they have shaped the development effort. Alternative ways of knowing and ways of sharing knowledge so as to reinforce core community values need to be explored. The paper concludes with a brief description of such an effort between First Nations in British Columbia and minority nations in Yunnan, China.