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Decentering Development Epistemology By Kelson Maynard

  Decentering Development Epistemology The reigning epistemological ideologies of western Europe and Euro-American – market capitalism, materialism, and the notion of inevitable progress – which have prevailed for several centuries, from the fifteenth century to the present, have resulted in the cultural model of industrial growth and a way of life centered on consumption.   This has resulted in widespread planetary distress.   The wounding of the planet earth is evident everywhere on every continent, the oceans, and the environment.   It is tearing apart the fabric of floral, faunal, and human life on earth. This developmental model has clearly failed for the majority of the earth’s inhabitants.   Yet, many post-colonial bourgeoise leadership classes, shaped by the epistemologies of western Europe and Euro-America, continue to replicate the colonial economic, political, and cultural systems, rather than dismantle them.   These bourgeois colonial leader...

PanAfricanWorkshop RoundTables 2025

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Nation @Noon... By jack miller

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The Call for a New/Different Epistemology By Kelson Maynard

  In today’s environment anything that is known can be known in a different way.   The grand narratives of European and Euro-United States of America American epistemology are not inviolate.   That epistemology has not redounded to the benefit of those countries and territories that were former colonies of European and Euro-USA American capitalism and its attendant colonialism.   The structural dependency of these former colonies on the capitalist centers of production and distribution of goods, services, and epistemology have not changed. Recognizing these facts, Peter Tosh advised that we should not be seeking peace with the system.   Peace is equated with normalcy, with the status quo.   He suggested that we should be advocating for equal rights and justice.   Bob Marley was even more direct.   He advised that we must rebel against the system of oppression. Rebellion begins by saying no to the current epistemological system that was beque...

They Cannot Stop the Time... By Kelson Maynard

  European and European-American civilization privilege the use of force and power to achieve domination.   These two ideals are central to it.   Its liberalism and epistemology of knowledge do not challenge these ideals of force and power.   Thus, the prevalence of war and conquest as part of their modern history of European colonialism and United States of America imperialism.   Subscription to this ideology of war confers upon believers a sense of community forged in the context of conflict and struggle.   Heroic and violent patriotism subsumes any notion of courtesy and civility.   Resoluteness, sacrifice, genocide, and manifest destiny are the hallmarks of this ideology of war, in the pursuit of the maintenance of European and European-American supremacy over Africans, Asians, Latin Americans, and Caribbeans. In our contemporary moment in the United States of America, Donald Trump has used and is utilizing these ideals to create a community of...

Politics in the Absence of Ethics and Morals By Kelson Maynard

  Ethics comes from an external source: codes of conduct- workplace, organizations, institutions. Morals are one’s own principles about what is right and wrong.   Our morals are derived from cultural influences, religion and spirituality, and subjective experiences. The 21 st century western political order is dominated by epistemological destruction of any balance between European and European American explicit and implicit professed beliefs and practices.   They deliberately inflict suffering and evil on global populations to advance their neo-liberal interests.   The reason is political and it is detached from ethics and morals. The practice of morality and ethics by Europeans and their descendants is suspended in war.   The detachment of morals and ethics from politics leads to systematic and calculated murder- Gaza war- and obscene decisions when rationality is divorced from morals and ethics- United States of America supreme court decisions: bump ...

Up with Socialism By Kelson Maynard and Jack Miller

  Socialism as a political and economic and social theory aims to advocate and establish policies for the control of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of goods and services.   These policies are regulated by the community.   The community is represented by the state.   The state is   defined as the political entity that possesses sovereignty over a defined geographic area and population. It exercises control through legal and institutional structures. The state's functions are broad and encompass the creation and enforcement of laws, maintaining order, protecting property rights, defending sovereignty, and providing public goods and services. The state is a permanent and enduring entity. It remains even as governments change. Government on the other hand is the organization or system through which the state exercises its authority and performs its functions.   The government is made up of institutions and officials that create, enforce...