Globalization, Collaborative Research, And Cognitive Justice

This article explores some of the obstacles to building the dialogue needed for transworld collaboration on globalization research and suggests some starting points for addressing these obstacles if researchers are to engage with, and respect, different bodies of knowledge and distinctive, if not incompatible cosmologies. It begins with a critical review of the Globalization and Autonomy project and its limited, and in retrospect, inadequate attempts to be epistemologically inclusive. Second, the article reflects more deeply on epistemological exclusion and knowledge erasure as challenges for globalization research. Drawing from the critical thinking in the second section, the third sections looks at steps that might be taken to build collaborations that meet the condition of cognitive justice. Next the article returns to the Globalization and Autonomy project as an example to illustrate the structural challenges faced by researchers in search of epistemological inclusion. The final section offers some concluding thoughts on how to move forward and to improve collaborative research efforts.