The current approach to African development is driven by Euro-Western material/physical approaches that fail to acknowledge the integral link between culture and development. For African development to truly speak to the realities and needs of African peoples, a reconceptualization of development is necessary, one which examines how Indigenous African knowledges can inform development. Using an anti-colonial, critical development and Indigenous discursive frameworks, this thesis examines how Akan, Gonja and Bogon proverbs, as Indigenous African knowledges, provide theoretical and practical knowledges for reconceptualising localized approaches to African development. Through interviews with local development practitioners and local Chiefs and the analysis of collected proverbs, the thesis reveals that proverbs, as linguistic, cultural and spiritual knowledges are deeply embedded in Ghanaian life and may function as excellent culturally relevant tools for a localized approach to African development.

The current approach to African development is driven by Euro-Western material/physical approaches that fail to acknowledge the integral link between culture and development. For African development to truly speak to the realities and needs of African peoples, a reconceptualization of development is necessary, one which examines how Indigenous African knowledges can inform development. Using an anti-colonial, critical development and Indigenous discursive frameworks, this thesis examines how Akan, Gonja and Bogon proverbs, as Indigenous African knowledges, provide theoretical and practical knowledges for reconceptualising localized approaches to African development. Through interviews with local development practitioners and local Chiefs and the analysis of collected proverbs, the thesis reveals that proverbs, as linguistic, cultural and spiritual knowledges are deeply embedded in Ghanaian life and may function as excellent culturally relevant tools for a localized approach to African development.

This dissertation is informed by lived experience of disability, artistic practice, and medical practice. My dissertation is also intended to be a model of how to bring to bear professional expertise, personal history, and personal obligations on scholarship. An inter-field survey of critical lenses within the humanities is developed, making for a heterogeneous model of engagement for scholars interested in studying medicine and medical representations in literature and other artistic genres and forms. A fusion of fields is created, demonstrating that many different approaches can be brought to bear – a deliberate choice because medicine is in need of critique from the humanities. Settler/bioscientific epistemologies are unpacked alongside Indigenous epistemologies. Metaphor, intersubjectivity, Indigenous place-thought, and disability studies are also deployed. I develop a way to link all of these pieces when they use the representation of pain as a common cause. I respectfully consider Indigenous knowledge without defining same or clinicalizing their knowledges. Ultimately, I develop a pain poetics. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Cette thèse analyse les négociations interculturelles des Gens du Centre (groupe amazonien multi-ethnique) avec les discours universels de droits humains et de développement mobilisés par l’État colombien. L’analyse se concentre sur le Plan de sauvegarde ethnique Witoto chapitre Leticia (ESP), qui est un des 73 plans formulés et implémentés par l’État colombien pour reconnaître les droits des peuples autochtones en danger par le déplacement forcé causé par les conflits armés internes. J’analyse l’ESP à travers la notion de friction (Tsing, 2005) qui fait référence aux caractéristiques complexes, inégalitaires et changeantes des rencontres contemporaines entre les différences des savoirs locaux et globaux. Mon analyse se base aussi sur des approches foucaldiennes et/ou subalternes de pouvoir comme la recherche anticoloniale et de la décolonisation, les perspectives critiques et contre-hégémoniques des droits humains, le post-développement, et les critiques du féminisme au développement. L’objectif de la thèse est d’analyser les savoirs (concepts de loi, de justice et de développement); les logiques de pensée (pratiques, épistémologies, rôles et espaces pour partager et produire des savoirs); et les relations de pouvoir (formes de leadership, associations, réseaux, et formes d’empowerment et disempowerment) produits et recréés par les Gens du Centre au sein des frictions avec les discours de droits humains et du développement. La thèse introduit comment la région habitée par les Gens du Centre (le Milieu Amazone transfrontalier) a été historiquement connectée aux relations inégalitaires de pouvoir qui influencent les luttes actuelles de ce groupe autochtone pour la reconnaissance de leurs droits à travers l’ESP. L’analyse se base à la fois sur une recherche documentaire et sur deux terrains ethnographiques, réalisés selon une perspective critique et autoréflexive. Ma réflexion méthodologique explore comment la position des chercheurs sur le terrain influence le savoir ethnographique et peut contribuer à la création des relations interculturelles inclusives, flexibles et connectées aux besoins des groupes locaux. La section analytique se concentre sur comment le pouvoir circule simultanément à travers des échelles nationale, régionale et locale dans l’ESP. J’y analyse comment ces formes de pouvoir produisent des sujets individuels et collectifs et s’articulent à des savoirs globaux ou locaux pour donner lieu à de nouvelles formes d’exclusion ou d’émancipation des autochtones déplacés. Les résultats de la recherche suggèrent que les Gens du Centre approchent le discours des droits humains à travers leurs savoirs autochtones sur la « loi de l’origine ». Cette loi établit leur différence culturelle comme étant à la base du processus de reconnaissance de leurs droits comme peuple déplacé. D’ailleurs, les Gens du Centre approprient les discours et les projets de développement à travers la notion d’abondance qui, comprise comme une habileté collective qui connecte la spiritualité, les valeurs culturelles, et les rôles de genre, contribue à assurer l’existence physique et culturelle des groupes autochtones. Ma thèse soutient que, même si ces savoirs et logiques de pensée autochtones sont liés à des inégalités et à formes de pouvoir local, ils peuvent contribuer à des pratiques de droits humains et de développement plurielles, égalitaires et inclusives. / This dissertation analyzes the intercultural negotiations of the Amazonian multi-ethnic group of the People of the Centre with the universal discourses of human rights and development promoted by the Colombian State. I focus on the Leticia Witoto Ethnic Safeguarding Plan (ESP), which is one of the 73 plans formulated and implemented by the Colombian State to acknowledge the basic rights of indigenous groups endangered by internal forced displacement. I analyze the ESP through the notion of friction (Tsing, 2005), which refers to the complex, unequal, and changing character of contemporary encounters across difference between local and global knowledges. My analysis also draws on Foucauldian and/or subaltern approaches such as anti-colonial and decolonizing research, critical and counter-hegemonic perspectives on human rights, post-development, and feminist critiques of development. I analyze the knowledges (understandings of law, justice, and development), logics of thought (practices, epistemologies, roles, and spaces for sharing and producing knowledges), and power relations (forms of leadership, associations, networks, and forms of empowerment and disempowerment) that the People of the Centre produce and renew in their frictions with human rights and development discourses. I introduce the tri-border Middle Amazon as a region historically connected to unequal global relations of power. I argue that these historical power relations influence the conditions in which the People of the Centre struggle for their rights through the ESP. I draw my case study on documentary analysis and on two instances of self-reflective and critical ethnographic fieldwork. My methodological reflection explores how researchers’ positions in fieldwork influence ethnographic knowledge and can contribute to inclusive and flexible intercultural relations connected to the needs of local groups. My analysis focuses on how power circulates on national, regional, and local scales in the ESP. I analyze how this circulatory power produces individual and collective subjects and is articulated with specific forms of knowledge, influencing both exclusionary and emancipatory possibilities for displaced indigenous people. Research results suggest that the People of the Centre approach human rights through their indigenous knowledge on the “law of origin.” This law asserts their cultural difference as a central basis of recognition of their human rights as displaced indigenous people. Similarly, the People of the Centre appropriate development discourses and projects through the notion of abundance. Understood as a collective ability connecting spirituality, cultural values, and gender roles, the notion of abundance aims to ensure the physical and cultural group’s survival. I argue that, although they are tied to local and unequal forms of power, these indigenous knowledges and their logics of thought can contribute to plural, egalitarian, and situated concepts and practices of human rights and development. / Esta tesis doctoral analiza las negociaciones interculturales de la Gente de Centro (grupo amazónico multiétnico) con los discursos universales de derechos humanos y desarrollo promovidos por el Estado colombiano. La investigación se concentra en el Plan de salvaguarda étnica Uitoto capítulo Leticia (ESP), uno de los 73 planes formulados e implementados por el Estado colombiano para reconocer los derechos básicos de los grupos indígenas en riesgo de desplazamiento forzado. Mi análisis emplea la noción de “fricción” (Tsing, 2005), la cual se refiere a las características complejas, desiguales y cambiantes de los encuentros contemporáneos entre las diferencias que existen entre saberes locales y globales. El análisis se basa además en perspectivas foucaultdianas y/o subalternas como la investigación anticolonial y la descolonización, perspectivas críticas y contra hegemónicas de los derechos humanos, el post-desarrollo, y las críticas feministas al desarrollo. Analizo los saberes (conceptos de ley, justicia y desarrollo), lógicas de pensamiento (prácticas, epistemologías, roles y espacios para producir saberes), y relaciones de poder (formas de liderazgo, asociaciones, redes, y formas de empoderamiento y desempoderamiento) que la Gente de Centro produce y recrea a través de sus fricciones con discursos de derechos humanos y desarrollo. Contextualizo la región habitada por la Gente de Centro (la triple frontera del Medio Amazonas) como un área históricamente influida por relaciones inequitativas de poder global. Sostengo que estas relaciones globales inequitativas influyen en las condiciones desiguales en las que la Gente de Centro lucha por el reconocimiento de sus derechos a través del ESP. Mi estudio de caso se basa en análisis documental y en dos períodos de trabajo de campo desde perspectivas etnográficas críticas y auto reflexivas. Mi reflexión metodológica explora cómo las posiciones de los investigadores en el campo influyen el conocimiento etnográfico y pueden contribuir a relaciones interculturales incluyentes, flexibles y conectadas con las necesidades de los grupos locales. La sección analítica presenta cómo formas de poder nacional, regional y local circulan en el ESP. Analizo cómo estas formas de poder producen sujetos individuales y colectivos y se articulan con formas de saber global o local, produciendo tanto exclusiones como posibilidades de resistencia entre los desplazados indígenas. Los resultados de la investigación sugieren que la Gente de Centro se aproxima a la noción de derechos humanos a través del concepto indígena de la “ley de origen.” Esta ley propone las diferencias culturales indígenas como una base para el reconocimiento de sus derechos humanos como pueblos afectados por el desplazamiento forzado. Además, la Gente de Centro se apropia de los discursos y proyectos de desarrollo a través de la noción de abundancia. Entendida como una habilidad colectiva que conecta visiones espirituales, valores culturales y roles de género, la noción de abundancia contribuye a asegurar la supervivencia cultural y física del grupo indígena. Mi tesis sostiene que, aun cuando estos saberes y lógicas de pensamiento indígena están ligados con formas de desigualdad y poder local, pueden contribuir a conceptos y prácticas de derechos humanos y desarrollo con una visión plural, igualitaria y localmente incluyente.

The quest for epistemic liberation remains an important project in the post-colonial era of Zambia, and entails challenging the existing inequalities in knowledge representation at the epistemic front in the country. At the core of this quest is the position that the continued dominance of Western knowledge and the corresponding marginalisation of indigenous knowledges amount to an epistemic injustice that affects the contemporary existence of the peoples in the country. This study critically examines the problem of epistemic injustice in Zambia while reflecting on the country’s uncompleted project of decolonisation. It traces the problem from the theoretical assumption of modernity that Western knowledge is universal and that it should, therefore, be applied to all societies in the world. It is submitted that the current education system in Zambia is based on this assumption, and, consequently, favours Western knowledge to the exclusion of indigenous knowledges. This practice is identified as a conduit for accelerating epistemic injustice and its intensity in the country. The study approaches this problem from an African philosophical standpoint, and draws its current from the history of the political struggle against domination on the continent. To adequately confront the problem of epistemic injustice in Zambia, the study suggests parity and equilibrium in representation between indigenous knowledges and Western knowledge in the country. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.A. (Philosophy)