International Center for Cultural Studies

2019/04/24 Decolonising Social Science: Meaning and Prospects (7)- Syed Farid Alatas

2019-04-24

Topic：Decolonising Social Science: Meaning and Prospects
Time：2019/04/24 14:00-17:00
Venue : Room 106, Humanity Building II, NCTU
Speaker：Syed Farid Alatas (Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore)

Syed Farid Alatas, a Malaysian national, is Professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. He has joint appointment with the Malay Studies Department at the university. His areas of interest are historical sociology, the sociology of social science, the sociology of religion and inter-religious dialogue. His books include Alternative Discourse in Asian Social Science: Responses to Eurocentrism (Sage, 2006), Ibn Khaldun (Oxford, 2013), Applying Ibn Khaldun (Routledge, 2014), and Sociological Theory Beyond the Canon (Co-authored with Vineeta Sinha, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).

Decades of the critique of Eurocentrism and Orientalism in the social sciences have refined our understanding of the various theoretical and epistemological problems that beset the process of knowledge production. Less, however, has been achieved by way of the actual creation of alternative or decolonial options in knowledge production, owing to the persistence of intellectual imperialism and academic dependency. This presentation discusses what knowledge in the decolonial mode may look like and what factors continue to obstruct or retard the growth of alternative discourses in the social sciences.

*English speech