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Chapter 2: How do we begin to think about the world?

Asking ‘how do we think’ might sound like a crazy question, but actually it is profoundly political. This chapter explains why thinking is political and outlines how it is political, whilst drawing attention to how certain ways of thinking can dominate or displace other ways of thinking. This chapter focuses on Indigenous experiences in Patagonia, which is a geographical region in southern Argentina and Chile. It examines how Western ways of being and knowing the world justified colonialism and capitalist domination. At the same time, this chapter considers how Indigenous knowledges challenge dominant ways of thinking about the world, including the relationship between humans and nature.

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Chapter Abstract

How do we begin to think about the world?  This chapter shows you why and how ‘thinking’ is political. We explore how dominant ways of knowing and thinking about the world shape it and examine the reasons why some worldviews are so powerful and others are silenced. We explore these ideas through the example of Indigenous Patagonia (Argentina), charting dynamics of oppression but also Indigenous resistance, focusing on ideas. The chapter ends with some practical suggestions for how to think in an expanded pluriversal (not universal) way.

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Additional web content and audio-visual materials

Videos – there are LOADS of great videos online (TED talks are particularly good) charting Indigenous people’s different ways of thinking, as well as their experiences of oppression – and resistance. Two of my favourites are:

  1. ‘What does and Indigenous University Look Like?’ Niigaanwewidam (James) Sinclair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egZ9w2Xkp90
  2. ‘Indigenous Storytelling as a Political Lens’ Tai Simpson  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5RhEStF_bQ

A great source of information on Indigenous struggles right around the world, which often conveys ‘thinking otherwise’ is the IWGIA (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs) https://www.iwgia.org/en/

Art is a key medium to convey thought beyond the printed page. An Aboriginal artist, Archie Moore won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale Art in 2024. In this short video he explains the meaning of his wonderful piece ‘Kith and Kin’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMZDTrcMk9o.

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Global Politics Film Club

Reservation Dogs (Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, 2021)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POkrsNVkGNk

A TV series (on various networks) about the exploits of four Native American teenagers (and their crazy/brilliant community) living on a Reservation in Oklahoma. Hilarious, tragic, everyday stories which offer an unsentimental insight into their lives, and also reflect Indigenous ways of thinking and being.

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Seminar room activities

Activity: In pairs, think about all the dimensions of your lives that shape the way you think. Identify the ones you are happy to share and sort them into ‘environmental’, ‘structural’ and ‘intellectual’. Address the following questions.

  1. Which of these factors do you have in common with your partner, and which are really different (and make a big difference)?
  2. How do some of these factors intersect and interact? Identify intersected factors which privilege or empower you, and think of some which disadvantage you. Is it the same for both you and your partner?
  3. Now discuss together which writers have most shaped your intellectual life so far. What sort of people are they? Whose voices don’t you get to read about or listen to? Where might you get access to those voices – and do they carry as much authority, if not, why not?
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Assessment Questions

  1. Why is thinking political?
  2. Reflecting on Indigenous and dominant, Western ideas about land, assess the relationship between ideas and colonialism.
  3. Should Western academic institutions teach about Indigenous thinking? What are the ethical pitfalls – and what might be the benefits?