Science in the Forest, Science in the Past: Further Interdisciplinary Explorations

Science in the Forest, Science in the Past: Further Interdisciplinary Explorations is a collection of papers from a workshop that argue that the diversity of knowledge claims and practices must be taken seriously in their own terms, rejecting dismissive labels such as 'magic, superstition, and the irrational' and accepting that how to proceed to a better understanding of the data poses a formidable challenge.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 29 January 2024
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Science in the Forest, Science in the Past: Further Interdisciplinary Explorations is a collection of papers from the second of two workshops convened by a group of scholars who believe that the diverse range of knowledge claims and practices documented in our evidence must be approached on their own terms rather than through the lens of Western modernity. Drawing from social anthropology, history, philosophy of science, computer science, classics, and sinology, among other fields, these scholars argue that the use of dismissive labels such as 'magic,' 'superstition,' and 'irrational' only perpetuates the problem and rejects the notion that radically alien beliefs are strictly incomprehensible to outsiders and can only be understood from within the system in question. At the same time, they recognize that navigating the complexities of understanding the data at hand poses a formidable challenge. The key problems identified in the inaugural workshop, whose proceedings were published in HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory (2019) and HAU Books (2020), served as the foundation for exploring how obvious pitfalls can be avoided and proposing a new or revised framework for addressing these problems.

The chapters in this book were originally published in Interdisciplinary Science Reviews.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 246 x 174 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032150727