This blog post is getting at assumptions about differences in “quality” between the products of the epistemic cultures of the global north and the global south. Influenced by enduring racist and ethnocentric ideologies of “enlightened” colonialism, and intertwined with contemporary strains of western liberalism, much of the discourse around development takes "cpacity building" as a given. But Bouka is arguing that scholars from "the south" have long been active and valuable participants in Western academic discourses as producers of knowledge. It’s not so much capacity building that is needed, as it a recognition of Southern scholar’s existing capacities and long-established contributions to Southern and Northern academic discourses alike.
