Introduction

This special issue of JAED is dedicated to an enhanced understanding of two-eyed seeing. More specifically, it focuses on the ways in which Indigenous individuals can “see” not only from their Indigenous, spiritual, decolonized, communalist mindset, but also from a Western, scientific, colonial, capitalist, neo-liberal ideology. The two-eyed perspective suggests that this dual ability will allow individuals to learn about, then consciously and actively participate in both the Indigenous as well as the Western worlds—standing with one proverbial foot in each. In line with the theme of this issue, the following is a review of two books by Robin Kimmerer, written 11 years apart in 2013 and 2024. This collaborative review, articulated by three scholars—academic leaders who are actively examining the evolving field of Indigenous economics, business, and economic development locally, nationally, and internationally—covers two key areas of interest, the first of which is clarifying how Kimmerer combines an understanding of Indigenous knowledge with Western science to support a natural collaborative way in the world. Second, they consider how lessons provided in Kimmerer’s first book support the thesis presented in her second book that the underutilized natural eco-system metaphor can be useful when contemplating contemporary alternatives to a flawed Western capitalist approach. This consideration culminates in ideas on how individuals might collectively “see” Indigenous economic development in a different and enhanced light from two perspectives. Whenever I read or hear about management decision-making, organizational problem-solving, or the contemplation of unique and transformational community development projects utilizing parable or allegory, I get excited! Why? Because in the early 1990s, while looking for materials to use in my initial delivery of a university course called Introduction to Organizational Behaviour, I stumbled upon a useful text called Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan (1997). For me, given my interest in Indigenous organizations, it was a game-changer. According to Morgan, all theories—in his case, those of organization and management—are based on implicit images or metaphors that lead us to see, understand, and act in distinctive yet partial ways. In other words, the use of metaphor implies a way of thinking and a way of seeing. Further, metaphor, such as the ones Kimmerer utilizes, can assist individuals and community development officers and leaders, in finding appropriate ways of seeing, understanding, and shaping the situations with which they have to deal. Perfect. Therefore, when addressing the ideas presented by Kimmerer, and those suggested by those espousing the theory of two-eyed seeing, each metaphor, or eye, sees in focused yet limited ways. An eye on Western ways, take for example capitalism, privileges the concepts of the invisible hand of the market economy, individualism, linearity, competition, and the quest for modernity. On the flip side, it renders invisible, for the most part, the significance of political interference, the collective value of communal enterprise, and collective holistic development. Or take, for example, neo-liberal researchers and the discovery of new knowledge by exploring through experimentation via environmental control, expert testimony, and the quest for objectivity via tested and written “truths”, yet missing out on the benefits of qualitative research methodology, diversity of views on the meaning of truth, and the social construction of reality let alone alternative cultural views of the meaning of life. Buddhists, for example, liken community development to the blossoming of the lotus flower, which requires spiritual guidance and a foundation of “mud”. Morgan suggests that there are at least eight images or metaphors at play when attempting to understand the ways in which organizations (and communities) operate, including the organization as: machine, brains, organisms (Kimmerer), cultures, psychic prisons, systems of politics, transformation, and tools of domination. …