Name (and dates, if known) of group, movement, phenomenon, or source:
[Insert name and dates here]
One paragraph description of group, movement, or phenomenon:
[Insert description here]
Documents (books, article, videos, websites, etc.) reviewed in this analysis:
[Insert reference information here]
Key, central, or repeated tropes:
[Insert examples here]
Key, central, or repeated names:
[Insert names here]
Key, central, or repeated documents:
[Insert titles and authors, if applicable and available]
Domains of Heterodoxy Worksheet
Indicate which of the following domains of orthodox authority and heterodox alternatives are indicated in the discourse of this group, movement, or phenomenon (based on the documents reviewed for this analysis). Be sure to indicate both what the perceived orthodoxy in this domain is and how the group claims (or implies) that they offer an alternative. Please indicate whether the claim is explicit (stated directly in the group’s discourse) or implicit (identified by you as the analyst):
- Epistemic Authority/Heterodoxy (academia and/or public education, “mainstream media,” religious orthodoxies, etc.—i.e. producers of knowledge)
Yes/No: YES Importance (0-5): 5 Implicit/Explicit: EXPLICIT[Insert examples here] - Political Authority/Heterodoxy (government, political parties, administrations & bureaucracies, courts, police, etc.—i.e. makers and enforcers of rules)
Yes/No: Importance (0-5): Implicit/Explicit:
[Insert examples here] - Economic Authority/Heterodoxy (Wall Street, big banks, corporations, International Monetary Fund [IMF], billionaires, etc.—i.e. controllers and regulators of wealth & resources)
Yes/No: Importance (0-5): Implicit/Explicit:
[Insert examples here] - Popular or Social Authority/Heterodoxy (“Mainstream” culture, popular culture, the status quo, “most people,” “sheeple,” etc.—i.e. the cultural norm)
Yes/No: Importance (0-5): Implicit/Explicit:
[Insert examples here] - Other (domain of authority/heterodoxy that you noticed but that you can’t fit within any of the 4 previous categories)
Importance (0-5): Implicit/Explicit:
[Insert examples here & indicate what you think their broader domain might be called]
Stigmatized Knowledge Worksheet
This worksheet seeks to assess the usefulness of Michael Barkun’s typology of what he calls stigmatized knowledge. Barkun defines stigmatized knowledge as:
“…claims to truth that the claimants regard as verified despite the marginalization of those claims by the institutions that conventionally distinguish between knowledge and error… The domain of stigmatized knowledge claims may be divided into FIVE VARIETIES”
This worksheet asks you to consider the kinds of claims of perceived heterodoxy in relation to a perceived orthodoxy that you previously identified and fit them as best you can into Barkun’s typology in order to determine, together, whether this framework bears analytical fruit.
Please indicate which types of stigmatized knowledge are present in the discourse of the group, movement, or phenomenon under analysis and indicate which examples from DHW apply:
- FORGOTTEN KNOWLEDGE (knowledge once allegedly known but lost through fault memory, cataclysm, or some other interrupting factor—e.g. beliefs about ancient wisdom once possessed by inhabitants of Atlantis)
[Insert examples of FORGOTTEN KNOWLEDGE claims here] - SUPERSEDED KNOWLEDGE (claims that once were authoritatively recognized as knowledge but lost that status because they came to be regarded as false or less valid than other claims—e.g. astrology and alchemy)
[Insert examples of SUPERSEDED KNOWLEDGE claims here] - IGNORED KNOWLEDGE (knowledge claims that persist in low-prestige [subaltern] social groups but are not taken seriously by others—e.g. folk medicine)
[Insert examples of IGNORED KNOWLEDGE claims here] - REJECTED KNOWLEDGE (knowledge claims that are explicitly rejected as false from the outset—e.g. UFO abductions)
[Insert examples of REJECTED KNOWLEDGE claims here] - SUPPRESSED KNOWLEDGE (claims that are allegedly known to be valid by authoritative institutions but are suppressed because they fear the consequences of public knowledge or have some evil or selfish motive for hiding the truth—e.g. the alien origins of UFOs and suppressed cancer cures)
[Insert examples of SUPPRESSED KNOWLEDGE claims here]
COMMENTS AND ANALYSIS
Please offer prose (i.e. full sentences and paragraphs) commentary and analysis on your group, movement, or phenomenon emphasizing what makes the group “alternative” (or perceived or projected as alternative) in relation to a perceived cultural orthodoxy. Draw together the threads developed in the worksheet(s) above into a descriptive narrative while adding your own thoughts and considerations. Provide page number citations to the sources that support your analysis—you do not need an additional bibliography, since you will have already listed your sources in the first worksheet. For weekly course tasks, this should be at least 400 words; if used for the midterm, this should be at least 900 words; and if used for the final, this should be at least 1300 words.
