Building knowledge of occupation from the ground up: A field in search of epistemic fairness and social relevance

ABSTRACT

In this keynote address to the first World Occupational Science Conference, I share some of the questions I have been grappling with, in the hope that others will perhaps point to alternatives in the way we look for solutions to the dire global context in which we find ourselves in 2022. The questions concern whether contemporary societies need the knowledge occupational science is generating, that is, whether it is useful in explaining the changes, emergent patterns, risks, conflicts, and unfair distribution that trouble societies. Can we be relevant to social change? What I try to reflect on is how to validate embodied, subjective, holistic, and collective forms of knowledge that are solidary and inclusively built, a truly integrated model of knowing, and yet not risk the celebrated (and pursued) scientific status. In addressing these questions, I point to the interconnection of colonization and science, which has largely disregarded Indigenous knowledge methodologies, artisanal knowledge, the intersection of thoughts and feelings, and ciencia nativa (native science) to name a few. I also pose the challenging questions of whether we support occupational scientists while they try to consolidate challenging new lines of research, and how many compromises we should accept to achieve the scientific status that is similar to well-established fields.

En esta ponencia magistral presentada en la primera Conferencia Mundial de Ciencia Ocupacional comparto algunas de las preguntas que se me han presentado, con la esperanza de que otros puedan señalar alternativas respecto a la forma de buscar soluciones al funesto contexto global en que nos encontramos en 2022. Las preguntas se refieren a si las sociedades contemporáneas necesitan el conocimiento que está generando la ciencia ocupacional, es decir, si éste es útil para explicar los cambios, los patrones emergentes, los riesgos, los conflictos y la injusta distribución que aquejan a dichas sociedades. ¿Podemos ser pertinentes para el cambio social? Intento reflexionar sobre cómo validar formas de conocimiento encarnadas, subjetivas, holísticas y colectivas que sean solidarias y se construyan de forma inclusiva, esto es, un modelo de conocimiento verdaderamente integrado, que no arriesgue el célebre (y perseguido) estatus científico. Al abordar estas cuestiones, señalo la interconexión entre la colonización y la ciencia, que en gran medida ha ignorado las metodologías del conocimiento indígena, el conocimiento artesanal, la intersección de pensamientos y sentimientos, y la ciencia nativa, por nombrar algunos aspectos. Además, planteo cuestiones desafiantes, por ejemplo, si apoyamos a los científicos ocupacionales cuando intentan consolidar nuevas y retadoras líneas de investigación, y cuántos compromisos debemos aceptar para alcanzar un estatus científico similar al que poseen los campos bien establecidos.

在第一届世界生活活动科学大会的主题演讲中，我分享了本人一直在努力解决的一些问题，希望其他人能够为我们寻找解决2022 年我们自己所处的严峻的全球环境的方案来提供替代方案。问题涉及当代社会是否需要生活活动科学产生的知识，即它是否有助于解释困扰社会的变化、新出现的模式、风险、冲突和不公平分配。 我们与社会变革相关吗？ 我试图反思的是如何验证具体的、主观的、整体的和集体的知识形式，这些知识形式是互为相关的、包容性的，是一个真正综合性认识模型，但又不危及备受尊重的（和追崇的）科学地位。 在回答这些问题时，我指出了殖民和科学的相互联系，这在很大程度上忽视了土著知识方法、手工知识、思想和感情的交集以及 ciencia nativa（本土科学）等。 我还提出了一些具有挑战性的问题，即当生活活动科学家试图巩固具有挑战性的新研究方向时，我们是否支持他们，以及我们应该接受多少妥协才能取得与成熟领域相似的科学地位。

KEYWORDS:

• Occupational science
• Decolonial project
• Global South
• Cognitive justice

View translated version:

Construindo conhecimento sobre ocupação a partir de seus fundamentos: um campo em busca de justiça epistêmica e relevância social

Land Acknowledgement

I acknowledge that participants at WOSC, who gathered in Vancouver, Canada, came from many different places that they call home. They stood on land that was the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Besides stating my respects to the First Peoples of this land and my appreciation for their self-determination and continued presence guarding and protecting this land, I want to add the need for us to go beyond words and find concrete ways to take meaningful action toward change. Also, I want to recognize that I have been working at the Federal University of São Carlos, in São Paulo, Brazil, where a historical struggle relates to two different peoples. The land was inhabited by the Guarani, the Tupi, and the Terena peoples, traditional Indigenous nations that had their lands stolen and were decimated by the colonizers. To date, these crimes are yet to be acknowledged by the Brazilian state and society. I also recognize that the area of São Carlos played an important role in the slave trade in Brazil, by which thousands of lives were marked by historical trauma that should always be remembered, so as not to be repeated. Further, I pay my respects to the almost 700,000 Brazilians who lost their lives due to COVID-19, mostly because of the neglect of federal authorities. My sincere sentiments to all those who lost their loved ones in this planetary health crisis that has made clear how social disparities operate to distribute life and death, according to social determinants.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Translation Note

This article is also available in Portuguese from https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rocc20

Notes

1 Please note that I have been avoiding the word discipline, as it would probably frame our work within a system that would exclude rather than invite different forms of knowing.

2 Please note that the Italians emphasize the graceful effect of others’ actions over us. By ‘Grazie’ they mean ‘I receive your grace’.