ABSTRACT
Retrospective introduction Shortly after emigrating to Aotearoa New Zealand, I came across the book Southern Theory: The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Sciences, written by Raewyn Connell, an Australian sociologist. It was one of those books that I read almost at one sitting and then for a while carried around with me, re-read, and kept making connections with what I was thinking and experiencing. Apart from learning a lot from the content of the book, which is fascinating, and the argument, which is extremely well made, the book has been an important part of finding my intellectual place in a new country and, indeed a new hemisphere. Looking back, I think it has also given voice to – and some analysis of – some disquiet I have had at times when I have travelled abroad when colleagues, both visiting and resident, have taken theory for granted or as given, one of the implications of which is that theory is somehow “neutral” and/ or acontextual. For some years I have been aware of and drawn on the concept and practice of “cultural intentionality” (Shweder, 1990; see also Singh & Tudor, 1997); Southern Theory has helped me extend this to theory, and specifically, the cultural origins, assumptions, and biases of theory.
