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Cognitive Imperialism

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Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory

Synonyms

Brain-washing; Cognitive assimilation; Cultural imperialism; Hierarchical invidious monoism; Hierarchical patrimonial monologue

Cognitive imperialism is a term that describes the mental, emotional, destructive, and traumatic effects of the experience of individuals and peoples forced to be educated and living under Eurocentric colonialism and imperialism (Fanon 1965, 1967; Memmi 1967, 2006). It is a form of cognitive manipulation used in social and education systems to disclaim other knowledge systems and values, known as a banking model (Freire 2004), cultural imperialism (Carnoy 1974), mental colonization or colonization of the mind (Chinweizu 1987; Hotep 2003), culturalism, cultural racism, epistemic violence, cultural genocide, or cognitive assimilation. However, cognitive imperialism’s focus of the change is in the consciousness and knowledge systems, rather than in culture. It is integral to replacing one knowledge system with another knowledge system that results in...

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Correspondence to Marie Battiste .

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Battiste, M. (2017). Cognitive Imperialism. In: Peters, M.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-588-4_501

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