The joy of discovering a term that describes a concept that I have been mulling over for 25 years is very hard to describe.
Epistemicide, a term coined by Jonathan Code, author of the book Muck and Mind, refers to the cide (the Latin word for killing or death) of epistemology (a way of knowing).
What we are never taught, but need to be aware of at all times, is that there is never only one way of knowing. There might appear to be only one but there was never one at the beginning and killing a way of knowing does not make it any less valid. Furthermore all ideas stem from an individual and we all know that no human has access to absolute truth, if such an idea exists.
Very few people are taught to question what is behind the way of knowing. Is the way you were taught mathematics the only way? The same applies to science. Who questions the unquestioned beliefs in society? Unquestioned beliefs only exist because of epistemicide.
The dominant paradigm in the world today is one of reductionism. Where everything is isolated, reduced, quantified and objectified. All of these principles are in violation of life which is not only the opposite of the abovementioned but also contextual. How can anyone claim confusion as to the parlous state of the world when the system is in violation of nature and life?
I will now discuss some examples of how I experience epistemicide.
First, the idea that we need chemical, extractive, poisoning, polluting, destructive agriculture to feed the world. I take farm tours on average 3 times a week. Every single farm tour starts with a discussion of the industrial farming method that malnourishes humans referred to above. In every group the following comment is made “Your system of regenerative agriculture might be good and well but we need the large scale industrial model to feed the world.” In other words they don’t believe there is another way. I have written here how South Africa can be fed regeneratively and here about how South Africa can achieve net zero by changing it’s food systems.
Second, ways of learning the alphabet, letters of the alphabet and 4 mathematical processes. All our children attended the Stellenbosch Waldorf Primary School. The way concepts are taught, the way of knowing, is very different to how I was taught. They don’t learn the alphabet from A to Z. They start with consonants and then finish with vowels as it is vowels that enable language. When learning how to draw the letter J they don’t just join the dots in the shape of J. They engage over many days in a fabulous tale of the jolly joking juggler who they then draw in full colour in the shape of the J. Finally they learn all 4 mathematical processes at the same time. Not one in isolation of the other. Creative processes have been awakened in them that conventional schooling cannot.
Third, Kwanobamba or Weenen. I was born in rural KZN near the hamlet of Weenen or as the Zulu inhabitants know it Kwanobamba. Weenen in Afrikaans is the place of weeping. The English translation of Kwanobamba is the place where we caught them. Both names refer to a conflict in the Boer Zulu war where the Zulus killed many Boers.
Fourth, 25 years ago I made a new friend in London. He was the first person I met who spoke Arabic. He was a white kid from London. Somehow we got onto talking about Israel. As a white South African growing up under apartheid we were taught to identify with Israel, which was another global pariah. The story we all knew was that in order to avoid another Holocaust a homeland was created in Palestine and that the surrounding Arabs were so unhappy that they launched many wars against the Israelis. His reply was “How would you feel if you were living somewhere and a group of people were moved onto your land, claiming that they are God’s chosen people and then they proceed to kick you off your land?”. The Zionist epistemicide has metastasised into a genocide.
Fifth, COVID showed that across the globe no one with an alternative to the government ordained and media enforced directives had a chance. Every day since those dreadful days (which James Kunstler so aptly describes as the sinkhole of greed, malice and medical homicide) the lies that were told are being proved, as a few of us maintained since the beginning, to be lies. Yet no word of apology from media or government.
Sixth, Obesity. This was never an issue in human life. It has been normalised. Yet even 50 years ago it was unacceptable. Big Food and as a result Big Pharma are very happy with this development. Click here for the data.
Finally, the bird language. A good friend of mine made a film with the San Bushmen many years ago. One afternoon they were chilling in the camp when there was a sudden frenzy of activity where the mothers were grabbing the children and putting them into the huts. My friend asked why they were protecting everyone and were told that there were lions 2 kms west. He asked how they knew that and was told with a straight face that the birds had told them. He then drove 2 kms west and found the lions. Later that evening around the fire he learnt that the first language the San Bushmen children learn is the bird language.
There are so many more. The Allies winning World War 2. Europe, the USA and in particular the UK being democracies and places that respect human rights. The real causes of the parabolic increase in autism.
This brings me to the two questions I want to finish with.
How does epistemicide get undone?
What other examples of epistemicide have I missed?
Angus
10 December 2024.
P.S. Mark Twain always said “it’s not what I don’t know that bothers me;
it’s what I know that just ain’t so that bothers me.”
