Let me make it clear from the outset that my main point isnoteither of the following: one, that there should be more women economists and research on “women's issues”, or two, that women as a class do, or should do, economics in a manner different from men. My argument is different and has to do with trying to gain an understanding of how a certain way of thinking about gender and a certain way of thinking about economics have become intertwined (...) through metaphor – with detrimental results – and how a richer conception of human understanding and human identity could broaden and improve the field of economics for both female and male practitioners. (shrink)

. This paper raises a question that is fundamental in the relationship between Euro-Western knowledge as a system of knowing, spawned and refined under particular historical circumstances, and the methodologies that are attached to it. I argue that Euro-Western knowledge gains its hegemonic status precisely because it is a political tool with political implications. As such, it is argued that the methodologies attached to it cannot be modified to subvert the very foundational motivations and spirit that inform Euro-modern knowledge. The (...) paper shows the politics of such knowledge and of the knowledge resulting from its methodologies. In this vein, then, I argue that chances for those placed on opposite sides of the “colonial difference” to engage in scholarly conversations that give equal respect to their ontological and epistemological concerns are non-existent. Heretofore marginalized ways of knowing and, thus, of being, need to be restored to an equal plane of recognition and affirmation for such conversations to be realized. The pervasive understanding of what came to be known as “African AIDS” is used as a case to substantiate the main argument. (shrink)