RECLAIMING KNOWLEDGE SOVEREIGNTY: Indigenous Epistemic Praxis and Alternative State-Building in the Global South
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: This article critically examines the historical genealogy and contemporary manifestations of the post-World War II development paradigm, exposing how technocratic governmentality and external financial tutelage operate as instruments of epistemic power across the Global South. Utilizing Timor-Leste as a poignant empirical lens, the study investigates the structural friction between standardized international state-building models and indigenous socio-cultural realities. Through a systematic literature review following PRISMA guidelines, this inquiry addresses the theoretical limits of post-structuralist critique, which frequently reduces subaltern populations to passive victims of global hegemonic apparatuses. Moving beyond abstract critique toward actionable decolonial praxis, the paper argues that true emancipation requires reclaiming epistemological sovereignty through the re-actualization of living indigenous philosophies. Specifically, it highlights how ancestral socio-environmental governance systems, such as the customary ecological jurisprudence of Tara-Bandu , the communal solidarity of Uma Lulik , and the anti-colonial political ethos of Mauberisme , provide vital frameworks for endogenous development and alternative statecraft. Ultimately, this study contends that post-colonial nation-states can dismantle systemic epistemic dependency by forging critical engagement with global financial architectures while institutionally harmonizing customary laws and fostering indigenous sciences.
Source: Research Square
Author: Edio Mariano Piedade Soares
Institution: Hasanuddin University
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7213965735