Embodied Ways of Knowing, Pedagogies, and Social Justice: Inclusive Science and Beyond

Abstract

This paper explores the implications of embodied ways of knowing for research, teaching, and activism. The concept of embodied knowledges/pedagogies draws attention to bodies as agents of knowledge production. I first outline a theoretical framework that connects embodied knowledges to lived experiences, performance, and bodily intelligence. This theoretical framework has emerged from the collaboration among four groups and institutions: Ananya Dance Theatre (ADT hereafter), environmental justice researchers/advocates, the College of St. Catherine (CSC hereafter), and the 2008 Inclusive Science Conference (ISC hereafter). By evaluating this collaborative project, I develop three pedagogical models that foreground embodied knowledges. Qualitative evidence suggests that embodied pedagogies foster a sense of community and challenge Eurocentric and male-centered systems of knowledge production predicated upon the body/mind binary. In the civic arena, activists use embodied pedagogies to provide emotional access to science-based information, and to mobilize for social change. I invite artists, activists, and educators to consider the potential of embodied knowledges to forge creative alliances, and to radically transform our work, our institutions, and knowledge production in general.