From good vs evil to rational vs emotional : a discussion of binaries of knowledge and thought

Abstract

This paper is a response to a graduate seminar entitled “Postcolonialism, Globalization, and Education.” Using postcolonial and feminist theory, I discuss connections between demographic binaries (male/female, black/white) and epistemological binaries (rational/emotional, objective/subjective). I argue that ingrained binary thinking privileges a particular epistemology, namely one that is Western, patriarchal, and based on rationality and logic, over other ways of thinking and knowing, thus invalidating other knowledges, such as those based on feeling, emoting, and sensing. In rejecting these ways of knowing, we move away from caring, compassion and empathy—all necessary tools for dismantling ills such as racism and sexism. Accessing and validating these alternative ways of knowing might contribute to making our society, our schools, and ourselves more whole, more equal, and more human.