Northern philosophies and professional neocolonialism in occupational therapy: a historical review and critique

Abstract

In this article, the authors conduct a historical review of recent philosophies influencing the Occupational Therapy profession in the United States (analytic philosophy and Continental varieties such as neopragmatism). Four philosophical categories are explored: epistemology, axiology, ontology, and praxis. The dominant strand of analytic philosophy is characterized by reductionist views of knowledge and reality, with little sustained attention to ethics and practical action. Competing but lesser recognized Continentally-inspired philosophies offer a critical and more phenomenological approach which values human subjectivities, narratives, and social agency. The authors argue that the dominance of analytic philosophy has created the intellectual foundations for neoliberalism to thrive and permeate the profession of Occupational Therapy in its curricula, practice models, reimbursement systems, and research agenda. As this Northern (United States) version of Occupational Therapy expands globally, the danger exists for professional neocolonialism to occur which can negatively influence or contradict more local ways of knowing and doing. The article concludes by offering strategies to unmask, disentangle, and dismantle Occupational Therapy from its Northern roots towards wider acceptance of Southern epistemologies, ethics, and collective action.

Extension, austerity, and emergence: Themes identified from a global scoping review of non‐urban occupational therapy services

“…This Northern hegemonic paradigm links occupational therapy service provision with notions of individualism, private provision of care, cost efficiency, and market value. These findings support previously identified trends particularly in the Global North, of occupational therapy accepting and adopting the austerity values of neoliberal politics (Dos Santos, 2022 ; Gerlach et al, 2018 ; Hammell, 2021 ; Malfitano et al, 2021 ; Taff & Putnam, 2022 ). Austere neoliberal policies are by nature competitive and result in those who are structurally limited losing against those who are structurally supported (Barakat et al, 2011 ).…”

Systematic synthesis of intersectional best practices: knowledge translation for circumpolar indigenous disability

“…Notably, not all studies relevant to theory-making are systematic reviews, but rather employ qualitative methods in community- and key-informant engagement [ 28 , 31 , 34 , 35 ]. The search term “northern” was identified as highly-ambiguous, as it led to studies situated in the global south using northern to describe what is distinctly non-local or non-indigenous.…”

La acción política en terapia ocupacional: una revisión integradora

“…En cuanto a la existencia en un contexto neoliberal, las/los autores señalan una agenda neoliberal omnipresente, oculta, asociada de intereses financieros (Taff & Putnam, 2022), que provoca "[…] aumento de las situaciones de vulnerabilidad de la población, que favorece una lectura superficial y fragmentada de la cuestión social" (Bezerra et al, 2022, p. 8, traducción libre) y pone a los/as profesionales "[…] al servicio del sistema moderno/colonial/capitalista/patriarcal" (Díaz-Leiva & Malfitano, 2021, p. 9). También es utilizada como un medio hegemónico en tanto que…”