Situated Knowledge

In her chapter "The Search for Situated Knowledge" Linda Flower points out that, in seeking to engage in dialogue and deal with issues within communities, differences in viewpoints will inevitably arise. Rather than being a roadblock, however, she says that these differences should actually be sought out in order to arrive at greater understanding. Since individuals come from various backgrounds, they will attach varying meanings and interpretations to words and scenarios based upon their own experiences. These "unarticulated, experientially based interpretive resources" make up what Flower refers to as "situated knowledge" (173) Listening alone does not always enable us to know what someone else's situated knowledge is because this knowledge is intertwined with who we are--it is how we view the world based upon multiple layers of experiences (including family life/upbringing and geographic location), that can contribute to prejudices or blind spots we may not even know that we have.

In order to learn about situated knowledge, we engage in "intercultural inquiry," which Flower defines as "a deliberate meaning-making activity in which difference is not read as a problem, but sought out as a resource for constructing more grounded and actionable understandings" (173). In order for this to happen, individuals need to be able to communicate the "stories-behind-the-story" that influence both how they interpret situations and also offer insight into others' interpretations of reality. Allowing individuals the opportunity to share their thoughts in their own vernaculars and genres is an important way to allow differences to be expressed in a way that gives greater understanding to the parties involved. This "hybrid discourse" offers insight into "consequences that lie outside one's own cultural experience" (184).

As I read this chapter, the word that kept coming to mind was empathy. In interacting with individuals from different backgrounds from our own, it is important to seek to understand who they are and the motivations behind their behavior. So often the obstacles that we face in communication with others comes from a lack of empathy. Problem-solving within communities certainly does not stop with empathy, but I think that it needs to begin with empathy. As our understanding of others' expands, our own views are challenged and we are better equipped to work together in forming solutions to problems.