Syed Hussein Alatas and the School of Autonomous Knowledge

Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib & Nurul Fadiah Johari (editors)
Paperback, 294 pages
9789670076584

Syed Hussein Alatas and the School of Autonomous Knowledge compiles 15 essays from writers around the Southeast Asian region on the ideas of the late Syed Hussein Alatas, a renowned Malaysian social theorist and pioneering professor of Malay Studies.

Enter the School of Autonomous Knowledge, a school of thought which began during Alatas’ professorial tenure at the National University of Singapore. Alatas noticed that the study of the history, society, and culture of the Nusantara (Malay-Indonesian world) was still limited by Eurocentric, nationalistic, sectarian, and nativist mindsets within the scholarly community itself. In response to these limitations, he called for a change in the way knowledge was created in the field of the social sciences, to encourage freedom of thought and awareness of such biases.

A generation of young academics heeded Alatas’ call when it first came out. This legacy continues today in this collection of writings that reflect upon and expand his repertoire of knowledge, concerns and methodological approach. It is an essential volume for anyone interested in diagnostic sociological approach, concern for the development of society, and driven by the autonomy of the mind and spirit.

1: The Thought of Syed Hussein Alatas / Syed Farid Alatas

2: The Critique of Colonial Knowledge: Insights from Malay-Indonesian Studies / Azhar Ibrahim

3: The Re-orientalised: Intellectual Dependency in Academic and Cultural Work / Nurul Fadiah Johari

4: Coloniality and the Captive Mind / Masturah Alatas

5: Ideology and Utopia / Syed Imad Alatas

6: The ‘Other Captive Mind’: Discourse on Islamisation of Science among the Malays and Its Implications on the Development of Autonomous Science / Noor Aisha Abdul Rahman

7: The Regressive Orientation of Traditionalism / Norshahril Saat

8: The Psychology of Feudalism / Fadiah Nadwa Fikri

9: Corruption and the State: A Critique of Public Higher Education in Malaysia / S. Munirah Alatas

10: What and Where is Progressive Islam? Intellectual Genealogy of a Nomenclature / Mohamed Imran Mohamed Taib

11: Socialism as Syed Hussein Alatas’ Vision for Muslim Societies / Sharifah Afra Alatas

12: The Need for Intellectuals / Teo Lee Ken

13: Critique of Libraries and Library Information Science from the Perspective of Autonomous Knowledge / Nur Diyana Abdul Kader

14: The Alatas Tradition: Reflections from a Filipino Sociologist / Veronica L. Gregorio

15: Autonomous Knowledge / Syed Farid Alatas