Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 2-17-2026
Abstract
This article introduces askancing as an epistemic strategy for the Global South to challenge the Global North’s construction of the Global South’s alterity. Askancing is a neologism we propose by engaging with Jacques Lacan’s speculations on the gaze as it pertains to the construction of “the other.” We argue that this strategy of askancing might already be implicit in postcolonial theories, from the notion of the subaltern, through “decoloniality,” to “ecologies of knowledge.” Central to askancing—and contrary to the decolonial call for an epistemic break with modernity—we agree with Dipesh Chakrabarty’s assertion that modernity’s rational discourse is both “indispensable and inadequate” for the Global South. We further propose that askancing might be the condition of possibility for epistemic exchanges in the Global South. The article was sparked by a fraternal bond between the authors: two subjects from India and Venezuela in the US academy. A “moment of recognizability” between us reveals unseen similarities in—blind spots of knowledge—our cultures’ conflictive relationship with modernity. To elucidate these unseen experiences, we propose the praxis of askancing.
Recommended Citation
Sankalia, Tanu and Lange Churion, Pedro, "Moment of Recognizability: Askancing and the Global South" (2026). Global Studies Faculty Publications. 31.
https://repository.usfca.edu/international_fac/31
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