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Journal Reflection #2 - Hanya Awan

Quote: “There were no Indians in the New World nor Blacks in Africa. The New World was inhabited by numerous and diverse cultures and civilizations, Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas, the best known among them when the Spanish arrived, as well as the Iroquois when the British settled in their territories, not Indians. In Africa, most of the population had black skin, but they were not Blacks. They were inhabitants of the Kingdoms of Mali, Ghana, Jolot, Mossi, etc. Indians and Blacks are racial classifications – and hence, racist ones.” (Mignolo, 2020, p. 7)

This quote was compelling as it accurately captures Mignolo (2020)’s most insightful arguments and perspective regarding how coloniality prevails in society currently and its hidden impacts on colonized countries as opposed to colonizer countries that also consciously induce the same principles that were once embedded through formal colonialism. This quote is discussing racial classification systems that were once introduced through colonial power structures and how it maintains its impact today globally. Mignolo (2020) breaks down how these racial classification systems surfaced through European empires and expansions that would undermine the success in systems where such classifications were non-existent and not relevant in relation to economic, political, and social growth in civilizations in Asia, Africa, and South America. The categorization and segregation of different ethnic identities emerged through European coercion of how civilization, religion, and education should appear ideally, instead of supporting rich traditions that were considered irrational, barbaric, and too ancient. This also complements the author discussing “global linear thinking,” where Europeans envision themselves as the most respected model of what it means to be modern and the most developed version of a human being. This completely disregards any association with Indigenous tribes, Africans, and ethnic populations, which had their culture restructured fully due to colonialism lasting for a significant period, to the point where the culture was entirely altered from its original practice. These populations are already perceived to be primitive, exotic, and underdeveloped through the European perspective of what is considered classy, groundbreaking, and dominating. This concept and decolonial lens is convincing since Mignolo (2020) challenges how race was not just existent in historic cultural analogies, but a creation through European influence that was not simply about differentiating physical features but rather ranking power, social class, and who is inferior.

Their critique of how racial classifications ultimately helped categorize and justify forms of slavery, exploitation, and living disparities shows how this was never about world unity but rather dispossession, subordination, and silencing non-Western knowledge systems. This is refreshing as it goes against dominant assumptions about racial categories that exist within modern settings, but also historic environments, and opens new conversations regarding whether racial categories are natural throughout time or enforced through colonial European dominations. Mignolo (2020) exposes how present identities were historically a byproduct of European power that overruled African, Asian, and Latin American beliefs and traditions at the time. This is convincing as it shows specific examples of how words such as “Black,” “White,” and “Indian” are more common through Western discourse, and also does not take into account the diversity by simplifying a person to a colour or level. Just as being African can range from Egyptian to Nigerian, it can also mean that being an Indian can range from being Tamil to Marathi. It discredits the layers of diversity, ethnic variations, religious layers, and language differences among oversimplified classification words. I selected this quote because this type of classification and labelling of individuals remains prominent even with modern society, especially in the Western context, where race is used for almost any type of identity confirmation, evaluation, and personal assessment with work, education, and social groups. It oversimplifies the individual and ties their value and identity to the mere traits they were born with, creating assumptions and stereotypes inherent in judgment. With beauty, marketing, and advertisements, race is always mentioned or targeted for a certain demographic to increase inclusivity and support for the company by writing labels such as “Black women empowerment” for a sports advertising or “Asian certified” for a cooking product. Mignolo’s (2020) argument is relevant here because individuals in the present day do not question these labels or categories but rather blindly obey within social media algorithms, beauty norms, and job hiring practices, as well as immigration investigations.

Questions:

If racial classifications and colonial knowledge frameworks are deeply embedded with modern instiituitions in research, academia, media advertisements and law enforcement how would society target towards authentic decoloniality and how would that look like in practice or would that be possible to begin with since the idea of classifications and western eurocentric hierarchy existed throughout historic times, how would dismantling colonial systems successfully appear like if societies rely on western structures, language, academic standards to begin with?
Mignolo (2020) presents their argument in which Western learning has become universal and powerful through colonial rule. However, countless non-Western systems and structures were often neglected, dismissed, or silenced because their knowledge was presented as unscientific and illegitimate despite evidence resurfacing regarding their contributions to modern medical, environmental, and philosophical data. For example, traditional Chinese herbal medicine has now only received recognition for how much potential it has to cure people with fatal illnesses because of traditional medicinal practices that were once perceived as “outdated”. So, to what extent does modern society still center its bias and lean towards Western research and scientific knowledge even when they have been proven to be exclusionary, racist, incomplete, and homogeneous, which do not cater towards alternative perspectives or knowledge lenses, and how does this demonstrate the ongoing implications of coloniality?

Mignolo's (2020) analysis of racial classification and coloniality of knowledge is evident in modern and historic events because most of the knowledge systems and educational credibility stem from Western hierarchy and advancement, when in reality, many cultures have already reached the same levels of discovery. For instance, the racial classification is applied through recent Harvard University admissions of students who have very competitive portfolios but are getting denied or less favoured solely on the fact that they are Asian- American and have that recorded through the application process. This example is very recent, where Arcidiacano et al. (2022) in a Scholarly article discovered how Asian Americans were favoured less compared to their white counterparts. Asian Americans are recorded to be stronger than white applicants on their statistics, but on ratings, “like personal and overall rating, Asian Americans receive lower ratings. For example, Asian Americans would see 20% higher odds of receiving a 2 or better on the personal rating if they were treated as white applicants.” (Arcidiacono et al., 2022, para. 10). This is a modern example of coloniality of knowledge as well as racial classifications, since they were denied acceptance solely due to that label rather than being equally treated. The white applicants received higher ratings, and this demonstrates the continuity of coloniality of knowledge, as it implies personal bias that white applicants are more knowledgeable and competitive than Asians. Racial classifications shaped interpretations of intelligence, value, and reliability of a person, even within prestigious institutions. The stereotypes in the article show how they can be academically strong but are perceived as lacking authenticity, leadership, or individuality, which reinforces assumptions about the individual based on Eurocentric-created classification bias to begin with, and this resulted in harsher judgment from the admission officers. This re-establishes Mignolo (2020)’s argument of how colonial systems created this classification to organize people and place hierarchies on those who are closer to white than those who are genetically and geographically far from it. Rather than viewing students with personal independent assessment, racial categories have overridden that rational and objective thought. Through stereotypes and microaggressions, these trace back to colonial hierarchies and broader relations to race and status.

Speaking of educational institutions, there is another real-life application to Mignolo’s (2020) theory of coloniality of knowledge and the dominance of Western philosophy, research, and educational spaces. This example is also personal to me because in Pakistani culture, studying abroad or studying in a Western university is seen as being elite, respectable, and high class, while staying within domestic schools is treated as boring, unintelligent, and poor because one is not able to afford living in the West with the current weak currency. The very idea that the West is the center for every area of discovery is how coloniality of knowledge is relevant today. We discussed in our class how Western knowledge is perceived as innovative, advanced, and universal, while non-Western intellectual traditions are overlooked, underrepresented, and marginalized from the public database. Specifically, people in non-Western countries view Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and MIT as globally respectable and symbols of academic success, intelligence, and intellectual talents. However, through personal research and discourse, there are more competitive universities than Harvard, which are more difficult to get accepted to but are overlooked and unknown because of this perception of Western knowledge being more prestigious, progressive, and futuristic. For example, universities in China and India are even more difficult to get into because of the massive competition with the largest populations. Tsinghua University in China and the Indian Institute of Technology, and the score needs to be in the top 0.05% in the province with the Gaokao exam. Students in India have to pass the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to qualify for the JEE Advanced, and out of a million applications, fewer than 15,00 are selected. This alone places Harvard and MIT at a very different difficulty level, even though the Western universities are more desirable and more attractive to the public eye. This paradox is exactly the coloniality of knowledge that the reading emphasizes.

Works Cited
Arcidiacono, Peter, et al. “Asian American Discrimination in Harvard Admissions.” European Economic Review, vol. 144, no. 104079, 4 Mar. 2022, p. 104079, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014292122000290#, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104079.

Journal Reflection, Unit #3- Hanya Awan

“First, and most obvious, extraction is a one-way process, not a relationship. Extraction connotes a ‘taking from’ rather than either a ‘giving to,’ or a reciprocity of ‘give and take.’ The extractive processes that make big data possible typically occur in the absence of dialogue or consent, despite the fact that they signal both facts and subjectivities of individual lives“ (Zuboff, 2015, p. 79).

This quotation was selected because it accurately mirrors Zuboff (2015)’s concept of data extraction and how it is a form of manipulation used where there is an imbalance of power and a one-sided relationship due to the increased level of power, wealth and knowledge on digital infrastructure and how it can retrieve sensitive information without consent from its users or test subjects, who are essentially civilians. Zuboff (2015) breaks down how this type of data extraction as well as the whole concept of surveillance capitalism, relies on the never-ending and unethical ways to collect data and information through someone’s ordinary life without them even being informed on how they are accessing their history searches, purchased products, activity hours on the device and what applications and hobbies they partake in when on their cellphone or laptop. Simple actions that appear harmless and unquestionable, such as searching for certain keywords, watching a theme of videos or scrolling through social media, as well as past transactions and the types of photographs and videos shared to others, or even pausing at a specific time to read or watch something, are significant enough when analyzing behaviour, which can turn their own data against them. What is noteworthy about data extraction, according to the author, is that most of the information that is gathered on a specific user is done so in a meticulous and secretive way, in which the participant is not even informed of what they are participating in. This can include reading terms and conditions when making an Instagram account or updating their phone to the latest software. Legally, they have hidden their tactics through these invisible contracts, but to the naked eye, it is almost impossible to detect these breaches of privacy. The consumers will believe they are using the technology most rationally, but Zuboff (2015) explains that these exact activities can generate millions of dollars worth of data, which can be sold, analyzed, packaged and even stored for predicting future activity patterns. By defining how extraction is more so a form of taking advantage and taking away from rather than a balanced, mutual and reciprocal relationship, the reading battles the common misunderstanding of how users and corporations are equally benefiting from each other and the use of technological growth. Instead, this type of surveillance capitalism builds a system where corporations acquire information for their own personal gain while users are unaware or clueless to the extent and consequences it will result in later.

This concept is relevant in the present generation because modern digital environments are continuously advancing. As an undergrad university student, it is almost impossible to avoid such powerful platforms like Google, Canvas, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, as the demographic is under my age, with Generation Z being the most prominent demographic. Before reading Zuboff (2015)’s argument, I personally did not think technology could be used in such a deceiving way and that it was more so for our benefit in terms of efficient communication, entertainment, research and staying connected globally. However, after understanding the author’s argument on how data extractions are calculated, it shifted my perspective in a critical way, where it is important to understand what the return value is for the consumer and holding companies accountable. The reading assisted me in understanding how the collection of data is not as limited as previously understood and that it is not limited to social media but more so to smartphones, laptops, smart watches and even our search engines. This is not so much about analyzing safety measures, but understanding how consent and knowledge are disregarded when it comes to location, preferences, school names, credit card purchases and health-related matters. As students, we do not have time to check personal contracts, read legal documents or even file a lawsuit due to shady behaviour, hence we are the most influenced and targeted because our age group will believe everything at face value and are swayed by emotional manipulation. This can also be applied to vulnerable populations such as seniors who are not able to keep up with digital media in the modern environment and will follow or blindly accept invasive terms and conditions or get scammed more frequently since they are not able to fact-check or properly assess the credibility of whoever or whatever is taking advantage of them. This creates an ethical problem of whether having these social media applications really helps our population stay connected and safe, or whether it is another tactic as a test to see how long people can sell their information without even being aware of it.

A. If surveillance capitalism is constantly extracting data from users with potential breaches of privacy to analyze consumer behaviour and have an impact on future activity, to what extent is social media protective and innovative for its consumers or has it already passed the threshold and has become a threat to society in relation to autonomy, freedom, and personal information (i.e, At what point do governments become responsible, or were they accountable since the rapid growth of digital media apps?)

B., Regarding citizens, can they truly consent and give the corporations a sense of authority when everything in the current generation is digital, with texting, calling, payment, grocery delivery, or has surveillance capitalism already created this unequal relationship inherently since they were ahead in knowledge, research and discovery?

A personal connection was that Zuboff’s (2015) argument was very applicable to my own habits when using TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X, which I use for personal entertainment and also sometimes for educating myself on a certain topic when specific textbooks or Google searches do not make sense to me. Over the past several years, I have noticed that my algorithm and recommendations, as well as the marketing advertisements, have gradually shifted differently from what I had imagined it to be starting from a couple of years ago. While a fraction of the videos are connected with sponsorships to products I have searched for or saved with clothing brands, cosmetics and skincare, there has been a slight change to how this type of content is directed towards me. I have noticed a change in exposure to political content when I do not actively search for it or engage with videos, due to low credibility, high bias and an inherent ideology to sell to viewers. However, this type of content has been increasing on all social media platforms, even when I never intentionally search for it. This accurately ties to Zuboff (2015)’s claim on how surveillance capitalism can use the behavioural data in data extraction to then sell or control an idea in a way which is personal to the consumer, so they can easily feel more connected and become convinced what ever the person is claiming or arguing to be factual. This data that is collected from my passion for makeup products translates to makeup videos of those same products, but instead of those videos focused on fashion and beauty, there are objectively and vocally attractive women that also make content, which is political, in which they are claiming extreme right-wing ideologies and beliefs through the soft marketing with makeup and skincare I am already fond of and interested in. This is what Zuboff (2015) reinforces, where the same data that is extracted is used and sold in a meticulous and unethical way, where large political parties and interest groups can use these platforms to target a specific demographic with tailored and designed personal messaging to attract them. This is for maximizing engagement and for beneficial gains on both the political parties' side and the media corporations, which gain even more profit from selling their share. Rather than responding to user preferences with accuracy in content with hobbies, behaviour, and interests for the sake of the greater good of society and taking collective responsibility for improving their welfare, the same companies use the data to alter algorithms so that they can manipulate audiences with a biased political agenda, already embedded with personalized taste in music, interests, products, shopping and food. This results in social media fueling specific ideas, beliefs and opinions that are bought and controlled by powerful elites to sway their audiences.

A personal experience is when I am interested in content related to fashion, skincare, makeup and good, long lasting make up that is cheap and sustainable. Even within that realm of TikTok, I have noticed with the new lifestyle trends on my feed that this clothing brand that I buy from all the time, known as Brandy Melville, pays influencers for clothing hauls. Another area is Sephora recommendations and Victoria's Secret models. I have been interested in those brands and have been keeping up to date, but one shift I encountered is that recently, all those brands have heavily emphasized this “clean girl” trend aesthetic. This essentially refers to wearing minimal creative clothing, being blonde, pale and skinny and nothing else, the aesthetic centred around being naturally blonde, blue eyes, and underweight, traits that are rooted in Eurocentric standards in the modern “American Girl” style. Many of the creators promoting this inherent conservative clothing style are young, conventionally attractive women who present a lifestyle that is relatable and comedic. What appears to be trendy fashion style centred around minimalism, and simplicity is rooted in politicall motivated conservative culture that is rising in popularity through the West and particularly the United States. The content was not limited to simple fashion or beauty tips but rather the influencers share their support for traditional gender roles, becomign stay at home mothers, reading the bible, and going against traits that are rebellious, cultural or outside the White girl appearance. These are coming from brands I have shopped from years since I was a teenager. This recent switch up lines with the control that Donald Trump has imposed during his current presidency. Those videos that were unrelated to politics, soon pushed an agenda which was discriminative and overly biased. This suggests that my past habits, purchasing history, vlogs I watched, and makeup tutorials I saved were not just storeed in a data base, but calculated, analyzed and used for future business analytics and how it can reinforce ideologies that corporations are paid to sell. This is exactly the data tracking the reading emphasizes on, because it analyzed what I was already interested in so that the consumer is not confused or questions the sudden shift in content. This made me think about how online platforms have a blurry line between safety regulations and consumer culture that shapes politics, which does not only control what goods are being purchased but how the individual views themselves, understands the worlds and percieeves societal and political concerns.

Journal Reflection Unit #4 - Hanya Awan

“Through that transversality, which continuously goes beyond the assigned issues and agenda and overows to connect that which is compartmentalized, the feminist movement, in all its heterogeneity, reappropriates the totality in a novel way. Slogans such as “we are going for everything” or “we want to change everything” are a way of redening what makes up the whole, that “everything,” which is not synthesized in state power, without underestimating the possibility of directing specific demands at the state or even disputing its resources. With its insistence on “mixing up everything,” feminism has been able to produce a practical diagnostic of the “complexity” of contemporary patriarchal and colonial capitalism, starting from concrete places (Gago & Malo, 2020, p. 625).

This quotation stood out to me because it really ties in to the concept of feminist versality that Gago and Malo (2020) are attempting to address and convey to the readers a way of tackling struggles that may appear to be contrasting or completely different but can be grouped under the same influence, power and motivation to drive a change in the system and overall dismantling it so that there is no hierarchy of social issues which indicate what is more of an urgency and what is not considered a concern. This concept of feminist versality is very significant because Feminism is often oversimplified to the average perception of simply being “women’s issues”. These authors are providing insight on how these stereotypes and misunderstandings should be fixed so that the main concern is not just a matter of gender violence but how gender violence also impacts an assortment of social, political, and economic matters and human rights issues that are usually treated as more serious. Those exact gender violence struggles are also directly related to labour, border enforcement, fascism, racism, environmental destruction, reproductive labour, traditional corporate labour, investments, and welfare that interact with each other. These issues are always treated as political, private, or financial concerns and are never addressed with a sense of urgency. Politicians today will focus on housing affordability but then cut millions of dollars from the budget on educational institutions providing student aid, as if those are not deeply correlated, because students who do get financial aid can get the certification and degrees necessary. Then, after those qualifications, they can save up long-term with a more stable and sturdy job and therefore contribute to buying a property in the near future. This is a trend among most politicians worldwide, they will see feminism or women’s rights as a secondary or negligible issue because it seems so overperformative and overambitious for them that they do not understand the impacts that will ruin the economy and political state long-term of the country. This quote especially stuck out because most politicians or even organizations focuses on one systemic issue are run by colonial thinking and integrated men who are using colonial tactics and misrepresenting women.

After all, these issues are separate from them. A woman who's black who runs for office is more likely to dedicate funding for all these issues equally because the issues and struggles are faced by that woman through various aspects of her life. Whether it is because she is black and faced deep racism, or the fact that she's a woman and has faced misogyny, or the fact that she grew up in a very poor home, and understands the importance of debt. Gago & Malo (2020) challenge this thinking of isolating issues by indicating that feminist centred politics is only more impactful when it shows the correlation between how different issues are structurally connected. It is not about hierarchy but rather dismantling the entire system of exploitation, colonialism, state violence, and capitalism. For example, women in the Global South experiencing poverty, debt and unsafe working conditions can tie into climate change and can also be related to expectations of caregiving and racialized labour that ties into colonial history hiring working from these developing countries to exploit women who are already financially suffering to make their living conditions worse, while capitalism contribtues to economic destruction by creating more waste, and plastic that gets emitted along as well as carbon dioxide. This concept is important regarding the feminist context because feminism is misrepresented through a conservative, anti-feminist, and radical right-wing lens, labelling them as aggressive, anti-men, and showing clips out of context. These interpretations are making women desire superiority and a power complex; however, transversality feminism is the exact opposite. When Gago and Malo (2020) discuss how feminism is moving beyond certain issues to collectively challenge the powers sustaining different types of injustices, it is not separating reproductive rights. There is a causal mechanism for how reproductive health affects debt, which impacts women's ability in unsafe environments, housing, and raising children, as well as accessible healthcare. This can tie into global warming and environmental well being becaus eland destruction and scarcity of natural resources can trace back to capitalism, which can worsen poverty, displacement, gender violence, and gender exploitation, which is part of the larger cycle of life and broader issues that are interconnected.

2.

A. When Gago and Malo (2020) imply that the core idea of feminist transversality is to connect issues that are usually treated as separated, isolated, and unrelated, what kind of risk could it impose if feminism is only focused on “women’s rights and issues” instead of connecting it to broader societal barriers related to patriarchy, colonialism, racism, capitalism, and climate change?

B. Gago and Malo (2020) also connect debt in a feminist political context through the emphasis on certain slogans and how they have a deep meaning, such as wanting to be alive, free, and debt-free. How do these slogans discussing debt within a feminist realm go against traditional research and theory of economic exploitation?

An application of feminist transversality theory is the ongoing and historic movement that has been going on with the Palestinian genocide and the “Free Palestine” movement. This movement has been increasing in support, coverage, and exposure on social media and through protests in which hundreds of thousands have been involved. Celebrities such as Ariana Grande have been speaking up about it, and she raised almost 1 million dollars for children in Gaza for safe housing, accessible water, and medical supplies. Imagine the influence and exposure that was received from that alone, which already raised millions of views just by posting it on a quick Instagram story. This shows the power and support the movement perpetuated from mostly women and feminists who were not related to or even informed about Middle Eastern conflicts and war crimes happening in a very geographically distinct place. Many of these women stood with Palestine, and contrary to the general belief that feminists would not associate their concerns with foreign matters, and that most people who would have to support Palestine are of arab descent because they are closely related, most of the protests held had diverse women. These protests, organizations, and fundraisers demonstrate how colonial violence is also connected to other struggles on a broader and even narrow scale. Within North and South America, Europe, and Asia, thousands of protests have occurred that have included women from all ethnic and religious backgrounds who want to address the violence and genocide happening to civilians in Palestine who are not related to or have close connections to those women. They want to show that by breaking the misinformation on how it is treated as a mutual war and territorial conflict, rather than human rights violations and one-sided threats to innocent children and families. This is extending beyond war because it can connect to other issues with gender violence, displacement, climate change, military control, and political corruption. This is the exact point that Gago and Malo (2020) reinforce through their arguments about how struggles should not be individualized into separate categories. This human rights issue with Palestine has been going on for decades, but has recently gained exponential support, exposure, and awareness after the October 7th, 2023, attacks. This is because feminist organizations and human rights groups realized that these issues, correlated or not in their everyday lives, affect the greater societal frameworks. This type of interdependence and collective action is what helped raise millions of dollars from famous singers, actors, and viral social media posts. Palestine is also a feminist issue because not only is it impacting innocent women and children, but also due to the mass destruction of infrastructure, homes, schools, and land, and how this can also impact social reproduction. Because there are no schools, homes, or necessities, the economy is in a state of collapse with very limited supply and high demand. This issue impacts financial stability, social welfare, the stability of the state, and the safety of these women, children, and families who face life-threatening living conditions. The significant numbers of non-Arab women who have participated in these marches, protests, and rallies have indicated that these political struggles become more effective when they are connected share of struggle from all layers of oppression rather than polarizing these groups based on different identities.

Additionally, this can also apply to broader issues of all human rights violations, such as the current inequality in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). As much as the Palestinian genocide is getting the recognition it deserves, I only recently learned more about the crisis from the DRC, also known as the “Free Congo” movement and the “#AllEyesonConngo,” in which there is a severe conflict with extreme health emergencies. There is a humanitarian crisis with immense violence through the military occupation of the extremist Rwanda M23 group. These groups have caused mass atrocities to an estimated 6-8 million people. At the same time, the extreme spread of the Ebola virus is causing more suffering to civilians of the DRC. There are multiple issues at hand because economically, the DRC produces over 70% of the world’s cobalt, which is used in batteries. The military group M23 wants control of mineral wealth and wants political power. The raw materials have a value of over 20 trillion dollars, but because of the military control and demand for controlling the industry, there has been a massacre. The violence is considered one of the worst crises currently. There have been public executions, sexual violence, where hundreds of women have been raped, and burned to death, that was perpetrated by the M23 military group. This is where feminist transversality comes in because this is not only treated as a resource matter. The extraction of minerals will relate to global warming, the displacement of civilians has led to dangerous labour conditions, which have increased poverty, and then gender violence, where women are sexually assaulted and brutally burned. This was interesting because I classify myself as a feminist who advocates for all oppressed groups regardless of religion, race, or class. While the Palestinian genocide has been discussed a lot recently, the DRC has still not been financially rescued due to a lack of initiative, exposure, and awareness, and this issue is till hidden amongst people in developed countries even though they are often informed about the “Free Palestine” movement.

References
Ariana Grande helps raise $801K for Palestine. (2026). Roya News. https://en.royanews.tv/news/66539/Ariana-Grande-helps-raise-%24801K-for-Palestine
Democratic Republic of Congo conflict. (2024). Msf.org.uk. https://msf.org.uk/issues/democratic-republic-congo-conflict
Mureithi, C. (2025, January 27). Who are the M23 rebels, and why is there fighting in eastern DRC? The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/27/who-are-m23-rebels-fighting-in-eastern-drc-congo

Journal Reflection, Unit #5 - Zero Point Knowledge - Hanya Awan

“In the ego-politics of knowledge, the subject of enunciation is erased, hidden, camouflaged by what Santiago Castro-Gómez has called zero-point philosophy. The latter is a point of view that hides itself as a point of view, or put differently, the point of view that assumes having no point of view.” (Grosfoguel, 2018, p. 148).

This text is significant to me because it directly tackles the essence of what “zero-point” knowledge is about, and Grosfoguel ‘s (2018) input on how knowledge presented is never simply neutral, objective, and one universal truth from one-dimensional positions and perspectives. These are often considered academic such as that infamous scholars are conceptualized as articulate, intelligent and impressive, but the idea that knowledge comes from nowhere simplifies many different interpretations and knowledge frameworks into one, which is not inclusive, selective, but presents itself in a way where it captures all of society’s contributions, doubts, discoveries and insight into how life, civilizations, and living are perceived. This is an interesting concept since Western philosophy is considered the backbone of modern rationalization and critical thinking and it can have an appearance of having objective knowledge that is universal to all people, from all countries but ironically hides social and historical conditions from where it emerged from and how different cultures produce knowledge and that no knowledge is produced from nowhere, when it has a geographic location, religion, culture, sexuality, race which factors out and influences the outcome of those knowledge systems, which is often dominated by western philosophical knowledge. Famous figures such as Descartes, Kant, Hegel and Marx are mostly taught, emphasized, and praised in global institutions and academic discourse and are taught and framed in a way in which those individuals are speaking on behalf of all of humanity rather than specific theories that were shaped through European colonialism, political influence, and cultural superiority. What is fascinating but also questionable is how the concept of the zero point of knowledge is not about reinforcing superiority through colonial, societal, and economic power, but rather critiques how a perspective appears invisible and inclusive, so that it does not disregard or override certain ideologies. If one worldview, which stems from Eurocentric, heterosexual, middle-aged, white-ruled men, is a symbol of truth, objective and absolute rationality and reasoning and groundbreaking in knowledge, then any perspective counteracting this framework is perceived as biased, incredible, lacking evidence, and incomplete.

This quotation was selected because it made me reconsider how credibility is measured in university research environments and how these analyses are constructed by which groups of professors, researchers, and experts, and from what contextual backgrounds. Grosfoguel (2012) is not arguing that European philosophers should be neglected altogether or do not have any sense of valid points to bring in philosophical conversation, but asks us why these political and critical thinkers are presented and recorded in the media as universal and globally recognized and agreed upon as if it is a mutual relationship with all culturally diverse people and European philosophers. This also questions how people from outside of those categories are seen as not educated enough or not universal enough, and it will be treated as an isolated concern that challenges mainstream values already embedded in society and modern civilizations. The concept of zero-point emphasizes a power dynamic that is reproduced not just simply from excluding other discoveries, knowledge frameworks, and critiques, but through what is considered already normalized. The most influential and globally recognized perspective is not one that is even considered as a perspective or personal knowledge input in the first place. In modern settings, this is exactly reinforced without people questioning because it is considered as usual and normalized while seeing it as a universal language, knowledge and educational research. For instance, students who investigate or tackle philosophy in areas of Indigenous, African, Asian or even Latin American contexts are treated as going above and beyond the usual route of normal philosophy or these categories are considered separate from normal philosophy programs or courses, since the standard is learning about Eurocentric figures, since that has always been the case for centuries in universities. It is considered and labelled as “alternative,” “exotic,” and even “cultural” instead of being recognized as a form of thought that is equally as valid and impactful as German, French and Greek philosophy.

Questions:

When universities claim to prioritize intellectual diversity in large institutions that aims to be inclusive, accepting and provide equal opportunities for all race, genders, religions and sexual orientations, but continue to reinforce a colonial hierarchy in philosophy and political theories in programs which center around European knowledge, does this go against the zero-point perspective or is it normalizing this universalism without questioning how this knowledge is obtained and taught?

Grosfoguel (2018) asserts that all forms of knowledge systems stem from a geographical and particular location that is influenced by different cultures, religions, practices, and traditions and that it does not simply spawn from nowhere. However, when every perspective is context-dependent and must be detected upon its roots and background, how can institutions evaluate knowledge that is distributed fairly when there are so many civilizations, continents, and countries that often have distinct ideologies that counter each other, without prioritizing or focusing on one voice over another?

3. The application of zero-point knowledge can be applied to when I learned about Frantz Fanon out of curiosity during my own personal web searches. When doing a philosophy course, I had always questioned how most of the philosophers that are the most prominent and equally successful in their complex theories are from the same geographical region, from the same race, gender and age, even though the knowledge is meant to be universally applicable. This led me to learn about Frantz Fanon, this was a philosopher who has been disregarded from mainstream academic journals as well as any programs touching on her theories and how influential it was that broke barriers in long-term racism, colonization and discrimination, leading to one-dimensional knowledge. He is a psychiatrist but also a philosophical thinker, which makes him twice as credible and recognized in various types of fields of medicine, political theory and philosophy. He has publications regarding decolonization and postcolonial theory, as well as critiquing the psychological impact of colonialism as it impacts modern scholarship in various disciplines and specializations. Even though this type of research and analysis seems more relevant, valid and important regarding history, his name and work have been constantly disregarded, silenced, and labelled as irrelevant in comparison to his white counterparts. Students, civilians, and even teachers have heard of names such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant and Marx more often than Fanon. Instead, he would be considered as something new, unknown and specialized within the course or study discipline, specifically regarding race and post-colonial studies, instead of being relevant within other Eurocentric philosophers. Applying Grosfoguel (2018)’s theory on zero-point knowledge to this specific example demonstrates that it is not just about simple oversights and bad luck but rather a deeper structure that is so normalized, hardly anyone will question it or label it as racist, prejudiced, and inequality treated as universal inclusivity. Fanon’s presence was not known until I searched up the most famous coloured and non-white philosophers, and then his name appeared. If I Google “most famous philosophers,” none of the philosophers are non-white or even women, but rather males all from Europe and those same names are repeated within my philosophy courses, political science courses and even history courses at UBC. This absence and disappearance of other types of knowledge that go against what is “universal” and “objective” reinforces a hierarchy and embedded discriminatory structures that continue to sustain the idea of how European philosophy and theories are neutral and equally acceptable throughout the world, while it is coming through one particular area. It creates silence for those who go against colonialism, slavery and sexism, but because these philosophers are so well known and respected, anything against the mainstream ideas is considered a counterargument that is treated as separate and implausible. Non-European figures will be seen as rebellious against what is morally and collectively accepted, even though that knowledge is from a specific area with specific personalized views. Interestingly, Fanon’s theories directly go against mainstream philosophy on how these structures create more polarization on whose ideas are considered universal in the first place.

Additionally, upon googling more on philosophy, I came across Western University’s page on the history of philosophy. This Canadian university had a whole page dedicated to explaining the History of Philosophy. When reading through the page, the department highlights how historic figures in philosophy are so significant to modern-day thinking and logic and that their history and philosophy courses have a very decent coverage of figures, highlighting mainly European figures such as the classic Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, Kant and Locke. They state word for word that this history of philosophy has made “a big difference in the world”. This was quite shocking coming from a profound institution that offers more than 600 distinct programs in various fields. They mention at the very end, very briefly, regarding female philosophers and minimal Buddhist philosophy that are considered extensions beyond what is mainstream and universal philosophy. These make anyone who is not from a European background, or who is not a man, or from a Christian environment, feel as if they are only additions but not contributing to the main themes of philosophy, but rather as an extra addition for entertainment, or for something that is unique. The intention might have been to include various perspectives; however, the structure and the overall summary of the page show that the zero-point is not just a creative concept but rather applies to how European philosophers considered the founding fathers of education and anything else is treated as additions. This is exactly what Grosfoguel (2018) emphasizes, in which European ideologies are the centre and outside geographical environments are additions to what is already an established story. This real-life connection made me ponder how the zero-point is not exclusive to philosophers. This can be applied to institutions and how their academics work, whether in science, engineering, law, or psychology. This can also be evident in museums, textbooks and news sources on what is considered universally acceptable and neutral if it is mainly recorded from the European standpoint.

References
History of Philosophy. (2025). Www.uwo.ca. https://www.uwo.ca/philosophy/undergraduate/teaching_areas/history.html