THE PROGRAM (9.30-12.00)
- Welcome, snacks and coffee
- Presentation by representative from Et Andet Universitet RUC
- Presentation by representative from Danske Studerendes Fællesråd (DSF)
- Guest lecture by Boaventura de Sousa Santos
- Debate on current problems at University
International guest lecture and debate on Political Activism and the Crisis of the Public University
Towards a Democratic and Emancipatory University Reform:
Epistemologies of the South and the Crisis of the University
THE THEME
There is no global social justice without global cognitive justice. This is why the University plays a central role in
relation to the problems that we face today, which are often characterized by the intertwinement of the global and
the local. Hegemonic globalization affects the University in an undemocratic direction, most notably through the
commodification of education. However, the door is open for us to counter this tendency by engaging in
counterhegemonic democratic-participative practices.
It is crucial that these counterhegemonic practices do not remain localized. Creative, democratic and empowering
reforms of the Public University around the world need to articulate in anti-hegemonic globalization processes.
One attempt in such direction is the ALICE research project, which engages with alternative forms of globalization
and epistemologies of the South, addressing alternatives to economic and social organization, political participation,
and construction of knowledge. In short, Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ talk will revolve around pertinent questions
relating to the crisis of the Public University, and explore the different contributions that epistemologies of the
South bring to thinking through and constructing democratic and emancipatory University reforms.
THE GUEST
Boaventura de Sousa Santos is Professor of Sociology, University of Coimbra (Portugal), and Distinguished Legal
Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned an LL.M and J.S.D. from Yale University. He is
director of the Center for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra and has written and published widely on the
issues of globalization, sociology of law and the state, epistemology, social movements, the university and education,
and the World Social Forum.
His works have been translated into Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian, French, German, and Chinese. He is
Honoris Causa of several universities, such as the University of Brasilia, Brazil and McGill University, Canada, and
has been awarded several prizes, most recently the Science and Technology Prize of Mexico, 2010, and the Kalven
Jr. Prize of the Law and Society Association, 2011.
The event is open to the wider public, and is free of charge. No previous registration is required. Information about how to get to
Roskilde University is found here, and a map of the University Campus is found here. Studenterhuset is building 17.
The event is jointly organized by:
The Research Group on Intercultural Studies
The Department of Culture and Identity
Akademisk-Politisk Forum, RUC
Et Andet Universitet, RUC
Studenterhuset, RUC
and The Research Project Alice, Strange Mirrors, Unsuspected Lessons