Against Crisis Epistemology

Abstract

People who perpetrate colonialism often defend their actions as necessary responses to real or perceived crises. Epistemologies of crisis involve knowing the world in such a way that a certain present is experienced as new. I will discuss newness in terms of the presumptions of unprecedentedness and urgency. In contradistinction to an epistemology of crisis, I will suggest that one interpretation of certain Indigenous intellectual traditions emphasizes what I will just call here an epistemology of coordination. Different from crisis, coordination refers to ways of knowing the world that emphasize the importance of moral bonds—or kinship relationships—for generating the (responsible) capacity to respond to constant change. Epistemologies of coordination are conducive to responding to expected and drastic changes without validating harm or violence.

Keywords: critical indigenous studies, climate crisis, indigenous time, indigenous knowledge, environmental justice