Sociopoetic research in the Social Sciences

Abstract

The Westernization of the modern world was epistemologically based in the colonial imposition of modern science as the only credible source of knowledge, thus invalidating popular and traditional wisdom. Contemporary epistemological debates have shown the need of expanding the epistemological boundaries of knowledge production. However, we have identified a dearth of investigative methods for the production of knowledge in a post-colonial perspective in the social sciences. This article analyzes the potential of sociopoetics to approach the epistemologies of the South by presenting two experiments performed in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), the first with an indigenous community, the second with a group of ‘solidarity economy’ workers. The results show that sociopoetics is an innovative method capable of incorporating ethical, aesthetic and cognitive elements into the production of knowledge in the social sciences. Its application, however, presents technical and ethical challenges for the traditional training of the researcher and for the participation of the subjects of the research.