A interculturalidade no contexto do ensino superior e as suas implicações epistemológicas

Abstract

Despite its tremendous successes, science still fails (1.) to satisfactorily explain certain phenomena and (2.) to meaningfully integrate other, culturally distinct forms of knowledge to make them accessible to a wider scientific understanding. Research results presented in this article as well as experiences from intercultural education do suggest, that this difficulty to integrate "different" knowledge might be a specific quality of modern science, which is working as an operationally closed system of knowledge production and perpetuation (hypotheses I). In contrast, other (e.g. performative-narrative) knowledge systems seem to be able (1.) to integrate other (e.g. scientific) knowledge (hypotheses II) and (2.) to provide explanatory models for some noncausal phenomena still lacking of a consistent scientific explanation (hypotheses III).Intercultural education has lead to the development of intercultural spaces for knowledge construction or "contact zones" and some very interesting new concepts. But due to the political background of those developments, they do not provide viable solutions for the epistemological dilemma of science at large - and as a consequence, they do not guarantee for the legitimation of indigenous knowledge at the epistemological level. The author suggests to develop new epistemological dispositifs, which could serve as "hinges" between culturally different types of knowledge, and thus, open ways to mutual intercultural learning and new scientific approaches. But it is also put attention to institutional restrictions and power relations within scientific academia and further suggested to create new spaces for mutual intercultural learningoutside the academic realm.