Article S7.4 Cultivating Transformative Knowledge Seminar Leader: Ananta Kumar Giri Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), Chennai, India aumkrishna[at]yahoo.com This seminar introduced the notion of transformative knowledge and deliberated on the process of its acquisition and deployment. Giri defines transformative knowledge as a paradigm of knowledge which enables us to question and transform structures of domination and, in the process, contribute to our individual and social liberation from such structures (Giri, 2009). Careful observation and description of our personal and social miseries, so as to be able to explain and predict such miseries to some extent, seems to be the predominant paradigm of social-scientific knowledge today; however, its capacity to liberate us from those miseries is uncertain. Giri’s perspective on transformative knowledge appears to be an extension to the predominant paradigm of social science. In Giri’s extended paradigm, knowledge still involves careful observation, description, and explanation; additionally, it also involves “knowing together in compassion and confrontation” (Giri, 2009). Knowing together calls for overcoming our inhibitions in sharing our observations, descriptions, and explanations, so as to trigger learning conversations around us. Compassion refers to feeling our pains and sufferings together. In the process of knowing together, we create a compassionate community and help each other learn. We compassionately understand each other’s points of view, which can then join up to become a circle of view (not separate points anymore!), capable of more generous embrace (Giri, 2009). Confrontation refers to acknowledging and dealing with those parts of self, others, and society which hinder the realisation of our innate potentials. Of course, in the compassion and confrontation process, we do not seek to annihilate our enemies but spread the spirit of togetherness (Giri, 2009). The process of knowing together in order to acquire transformative knowledge is not just political, but involves creation of a new language of identity and aspiration. Identity refers to the source of an individual’s self-respect or dignity. Aspiration implies a strong desire for honour, acceptance, and advancement (Fearon, 1999). Identity and aspiration together are expected to foster a sense of shared and facilitate knowing together. In order to learn about how transformative knowledge arises and functions we can turn to various transformative practices. Socio-spiritual movements such as Habitat for Humanity in the USA (Giri, 2002), Swadhyaya in India (Giri, 2008), Liberation Theology in Latin America (Burdick, 1993), and movements of disability, gender justice, global justice, and child-centred education have all attempted to create this language of identity and aspiration. The language of identity and aspiration alone is enough for achieving transformation of the social order, especially when the language becomes an end in itself. The language is only a vehicle to capture ideas and experiences. In order to play a truly transformative role, the language must be used to facilitate learning conversations. Through such learning conversations, we can assemble the transformative knowledge required for personal and social change. One of the prerequisites for developing transformative knowledge is “avicultural skills,” which enable one to overcome isolation and relate to human togetherness (Bos & Kaulingfreks, 2001). Citing a set of naturalistic metaphors, Giri says, persons seeking transformative knowledge would have to be simultaneously earthworms (digging deeper into the structures of domination), gardeners (caring for the garden of human diversity and togetherness), and swans (flying out of isolation and bondage when necessary). These three metaphors suggest a formative pathway for researchers seeking to engage with transformative practices, so that the knowledge they acquire is not lost in some barren land, but grows organically in the context of fertile transformative practices. References Bos, R. ten & Kaulingfreks, R. (2001). Learning to fly: On inspiration and togetherness. Electronic Journal of Radical Organizational Theory, 7(2), 1-13. Retrieved August 7, 2010, from http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/ejrot/cmsconference/2001/Papers/Passion%20for%20Organising/Kaulingfreks.pdf Burdick, J. (1993). Looking for God in Brazil: The progressive Catholic Church in urban Brazil’s religious arena. Berkeley, CA and London: University of California Press. Fearon, J. D. (1999). What is identity (as we now use the word)? Unpublished manuscript. Retrieved August 7, 2010, from http://www.stanford.edu/~jfearon/papers/iden1v2.pdf Giri, A. K. (2002). Building in the margins of shacks: The vision and projects of Habitat for Humanity. Delhi, India: Orient Longman. Giri, A. K. (2008). Self-development and social transformations? The vision and experiments of the socio-spiritual mobilization of Swadhyaya. Jaipur, India: Rawat and Lanham, MD: Lexington. Giri, A. K. (2009, February). Knowing together in compassion and confrontation: Social movements, gift of knowledge and the challenge of transformations. Proceedings of the International Conference on Language, Mind, and Social Construction, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India. Reported by Swati Panda; with inputs from Rahul Thakurta; edited by D. P. Dash. 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