All research is guided by a set of philosophical underpinnings. Indigenous methodologies are in line with an Indigenous paradigm, while critical and liberatory methodologies fit with the transformative paradigm. Yet Indigenous and transformative methodologies share an emancipatory and critical stance and thus are increasingly used in tandem by both Western and Indigenous scholars in an attempt to decolonize methodologies, research, and the academy as a whole. However, these multiparadigmatic spaces only superficially support decolonization which, in the Canadian context of settler colonialism, is a radical and unsettling prospect that is about land, resources, and sovereignty. Applying this definition of decolonization to the decolonization of research paradigms, this article suggests that such paradigms must be developed, from scratch, conjointly between Indigenous and Western researchers.
Research failures are not readily disclosed in research representations. This exclusion is a missed opportunity to practice reflexivity, a practice otherwise crucially important to social science inquiry, and share the learning that was inspired by the failure. In this paper I present and reflect on a research failure that occurred during my doctoral research into alternative, Inuit-centered models of fisheries governance in Nunavut. While working on defining the research, I experienced a far-reaching impasse due to the lack of community response and academic guidance. Eventually, despite the best intentions to engage in decolonizing research, I chose to forgo meaningful community consultation before embarking on my fieldwork. Decolonizing research centers collaboration and local research needs from the outset. At the same time, what it means to negotiate a research relationship is in itself negotiable. Further, the negotiating is often challenged by time constraints, institutional restrictions, and limited financial resources. Lessons learned from my case study include a) that a nonideal start does not mean that the entire research project will fail and b) that participating Indigenous communities have the sovereignty, irrespective of existing protocols, to set the terms under which research can take place. Above all, negotiating a research relationship is about relational work which requires commitment and continuous engagement.
Decolonization is the complicated and unsettling undoing of colonization. In a similarly simplified definition, science is a structured way of pursuing knowledge. To decolonize science thus means to undo the past and present racist and colonial hegemony of Western science over other, equally legitimate, ways of knowing. This paper discusses the paradigmatic prerequisites and consequences of decolonizing Western science. Only if Western science is toppled from its pedestal and understood in a cultural way can it engage with other sciences at eye level. Such equal collaboration that results in the co-creation of new knowledge based on the scientific method and Indigenous scientific inquiry is what decolonizing science is all about. What it looks like in practice is highly variable as there is no one-size-fits-all approach due to the fact that Indigenous knowledge is rooted in the local, the land. Therefore, decolonizing science is much more a path than a destination. This path, however, will also pave the way to a new multiparadigmatic space. A quick look into the history and philosophy of science reveals that new paradigms have always emerged after a few trailblazers started engaging in a new way of doing science.
<p>The HOSST and TOSST transatlantic graduate schools were conceived and designed as multidisciplinary and multicultural training opportunities. While HOSST is headquartered at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel, Germany, TOSST is run out of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. English being the language of science, the main language of communication in both programs is English. For most HOSST- and TOSST students, however, English is not their native tongue, but a second or even third language.</p><p>Language is a fundamental aspect of any culture; in fact, they are intertwined and mutually influence each other. A culture can only be fully understood through its corresponding language, while interacting with a different language always also illuminates the respective culture. An integral part of the HOSST- and TOSST graduate schools is the requirement that each student spends a 4-month research exchange at the sister institution. For most TOSST students, this meant immersing themselves not only into the German culture but also the German language.</p><p>To ease the transition to working and living in Germany, TOSST offered their students a German course, a proposition that was requested by the students and unanimously supported by the TOSST leadership team. Thanks to longstanding relationships with the German community in Halifax, the TOSST German course was offered through the German Heritage Language School. It so happened that the teacher was also a TOSST student. Many students accepted the offer to immerse themselves into a new language and culture ahead of their research exchange. Obviously they did not reach fluency after one or two terms, but studying German prepared them to engage with residents in everyday situations and to better understand the local culture.</p><p>Beyond these practical applications, the students appreciated an opportunity for lifelong learning outside of their field of research. Both the students and the teacher found interacting with the German language as part of their work days to foster their creativity by providing a different stimulus than their usual research efforts. The German course further provided an opportunity to build and deepen friendships among TOSST students across cultures and disciplines. The learning not only provided theoretical knowledge of the German culture, but opened up access to the sizeable German community in Halifax. A handful of students even continued with the course after their research exchange was completed as they appreciated studying the German language and culture as a skill that will serve them well beyond the TOSST graduate school.</p>
<p>Many disciplines study the ocean and its uses from different perspectives. Recently, there has been a growing awareness about the inseparability of the social and ecological systems and that achieving sustainable use of ocean resources will require the integration of different types of knowledge and disciplines. In this presentation, we will draw from the experience of two early career interdisciplinary scientists to present examples of the role social sciences can play in achieving sustainable oceans management, how and why it should be integrated with other ocean disciplines. More specifically, we will present how a qualitative research approaches to understanding seafood sustainability governance and community/rights-based management makes an important contribution to sustainable ocean management. We conclude that to achieve ocean sustainability, which is a societal problem, we not only need numbers but also the social sciences and their narratives.</p>
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