Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
An academic lecture was organised by the office of TRENDS Research and Advisory in Montreal, Canada, in collaboration with the University of Montreal, under the title “Beyond Epistemic Injustice: When Academic Narratives on the Arab World Collide”. The lecture was delivered by Dr. Wael Saleh, a TRENDS expert and the Director of its Montreal Office, who shared his field experience and discussed a range of critical issues facing Arab studies in Western universities and their direct impact on shaping knowledge and public opinion about the Arab world.
Dr. Wael Saleh explained that there is a growing trend in Western academic circles to delegitimise many Arab epistemologies. According to the lecturer, this delegitimisation reduces the acceptance of these approaches in Western academia, limiting opportunities for dialogue and knowledge exchange between the East and West.
He emphasised that dominant Western approaches to Arab studies possess the power to either recognise or dismiss the epistemic value of others. This dominance, he argued, results in a specific kind of ignorance, where Arab knowledge is evaluated through the lens of specific Western values and standards.
The Director of TRENDS’ Montreal Office pointed out that academic narratives on the Arab world are increasingly engaged in an epistemic struggle, coinciding with the geopolitical and economic shifts the world is experiencing. As the economic and political centre of gravity shifts from the West to the East, competition for knowledge production and public opinion formation intensifies.
Dr. Wael Saleh explained that epistemic injustice is built on three dynamics, which both produce and are produced by it: epistemic or interpretive dominance, which occurs when a dominant group imposes a particular understanding of a phenomenon; epistemic suppression, resulting from continuous epistemic exclusion that limits a person or group’s ability to participate in the knowledge production process; and wilful epistemic ignorance, arising from the epistemologically dominant group’s refusal to engage with alternative knowledge sources.
The lecture sparked wide interaction from the audience, who raised numerous questions and inquiries about the topics discussed. The lecturer emphasised the importance of dialogue and constructive debate in achieving a deeper understanding of the Arab world and overcoming existing epistemic conflicts.
This lecture, which is part of the activities of TRENDS’ Montreal office, constitutes a valuable contribution to the academic dialogue on Arab studies. It highlighted several challenges and dilemmas facing this field, calling for a reconsideration of traditional approaches to studying the Arab world and promoting the building of bridges of trust and understanding between the East and West.
