Somatic Epistemologies

This project, Somatic Epistemologies: Embodiment as a Political Practice of Knowing, engages the different ways in which embodiment is itself a source and foundation of knowledge. As such, it problematises the disembodied nature of Western-centric traditions of knowledge production. These are juxtaposed to indigenous and eco-somatic practices of embodiment that emphasise knowledge and experience as always already grounded in bodies, both human and more-than-human. This is subsequently extended to embodied activism as a political and socially-engaged practice that disrupts and interrogates the disembodied ideology of hierarchical hegemonies like capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. At the same time, these practices of reconnecting to the body also facilitate alternative ways of knowing that centre around care, community, and connection.