This article revisits the use of postmodernist theory in qualitative research in education and related fields, where such ideas remain consigned to the “fringe”—or worse. What are the grounds for this ongoing refusal of “postmodernism”? How is postmodernism useful in our research and teaching? In this article, four senior women academics of various backgrounds, one or more of us identifying as Indigenous, Immigrant, White, Colored, monolingual, bilingual, trilingual, and so forth, join forces to unpick what postmodernism offers us, and why it is still denied in mainstream academic circles. We focus on this question in the context of teaching research methods in the doctoral curriculum.

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Drawing on select works of Adorno, we will first rehearse his reasons for a rejuvenation of philosophy and apply them to philosophers working on world philosophical traditions. We will then analyse Adorno’s arguments pertaining to the theory–praxis relation to ascertain whether his thought could accommodate a study of world philosophical traditions for the simple reason that they are present in a particular society. Shifting our focus slightly, we reflect upon how current ways of professional philosophizing affect the study of world philosophical traditions. As the example of Māori philosophy demonstrates, current philosophical practices seem to delimit the search for the unconventional in academic philosophy. Through its philosophical appropriation, the so-called unconventional tends to mimic conventional patterns in academic philosophy. We will then attempt to find reasons to critique this process within the Adornoian framework itself. The conclusion draws together different strands of the discussion and delineates some paths to take forward the world philosophies project in an Adornoian spirit.

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