Decolonising Knowledge: Ecological Wisdom & Epistemic Diversity in Indian Knowledge Systems

The relationship between humanity and the environment is inherent. It is such a remarkably intimate bond that can never be disintegrated. However, due to unrestrained aggression and the inconsiderate expansion of human civilization, today we are facing global ecological crises, the solutions to which often lie in ancient wisdom we are gradually reclaiming as the need of the hour. For centuries, dominant Western-centric knowledge frameworks have often marginalized alternative ways of understanding the world. Nevertheless, it is high time we shed our colonial baggage and move beyond the Eurocentric paradigm, necessarily restructuring how we understand and act in the world by integrating traditional knowledge systems into a modern framework. Going beyond the hegemony of singular knowledge frameworks, this edited volume, Decolonizing Knowledge: Ecological Wisdom & Epistemic Diversity in Indian Knowledge Systems, brings together diverse scholarly voices to explore how Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), with its rich, multi-layered intellectual and ecological heritage, can reshape our understanding of the environment, education, and epistemology towards a more equitable, resilient and sustainable future for all.

The chapters in this volume are organized into four sections. The first section focuses on the Indigenous ecologies and traditional praxis rooted in Indian Knowledge Systems. Pravat Ranjan Sethi explores the ‘Ecology of Reverence’, examining how Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the Indian subcontinent have sustained ecologies of care through sacred groves, community water-harvesting traditions, and agro-ecological practices. Using recollection of memory as a research methodology, Sapna Ekka presents an indigenous food narrative to understand how tribal food and food systems in the Tea Gardens of Dooars, northern West Bengal, India, sustain biodiversity and community resilience. Sukanta Sarkar shifts the focus to the North-Eastern Region of India to highlight the patterns of traditional food consumption and the nutritional sources of tribal communities in the region. Dr. Sweta Jain and Surbhi Jain incorporate ethical perspectives on animal welfare derived from Jain philosophy, exploring how it encourages its believers to adopt an ecological and ethical worldview grounded in Jain teachings.

The second section focuses on epistemic diversity and embodied learning. Billy J Zorinthara explores the intersection of science, philosophy, and religion in the context of ecological concerns, examining how Mizo primal wisdom can provide a conceptual space for accommodating recent scientific understanding of the importance of the natural world to human life. Moving into the realm of pedagogy, Kartick Chandra Mandal, Dr. Gopa Saha Roy, and Dr. Chandan Adhikary explore the influence of yoga-centric practices on learners' wellness. Suchismita Ghoshal proposes a decolonial pedagogical framework that converges Gurukula-inspired education, embodied learning, experiential pedagogy, and eco-pedagogy as articulated within Indian philosophical traditions. Together, the chapters in this section offer a complementary epistemology that prioritizes learners’ wellness and experiential learning.

The final section bridges IKS with modern technology by highlighting sustaining futures and digital epistemologies. Dr. Joydeb Patra discusses the development of metadata and knowledge graphs for IKS archives, while Viraj P. Tathavadekar, Dr. Nitin R. Mahankale, and Dr. H.C. Vicente Pironti present an innovative convergence between Vedic Śūnyatā (emptiness) and quantum computing paradigms.

As editors, our goal has been to curate a volume that reflects the ‘Ecological Wisdom’ and ‘Epistemic Diversity' inherent in Indian Knowledge Systems. We dedicate this volume to all the torchbearers of Indigenous Knowledge Systems across the globe. We sincerely thank our contributors for sharing their ideas and critiques for this anthology. We also extend our gratitude to the publisher and all others associated with this venture. We hope this volume serves as both a resource for scholars and a source of inspiration for those seeking a more balanced relationship between human knowledge and the natural world, as well as a nuanced understanding of Indian Knowledge Systems.