Louvain-la-Neuve
Collège Dupriez - D144
Abstract
Deconstructing Epistemological Hierarchies: Unlearning and Relearning through Participatory Co-production of Knowledges
(A Southern Perspective)
Post-development and decolonial theorists (Escobar, 1992; Sachs, ed.1992; Santos, 2016) articulate a dissatisfaction with the epistemological foundations of current development processes. The question, therefore, is how do we build counter knowledges of the people, especially marginalised people at the grassroots, as a critical strategy in knowledge-making and epistemic justice? Participatory methodologies and approaches inspired by alternatives in development thinking (Chambers, 2008) and People-Centered Social Innovation that centre people-led solutions and their local context (Banerjee et al., 2020) envision the deconstruction of epistemological hierarchies. This session, therefore, tries to uncover alternatives and plural methodologies and approaches that centre people and their voices, as well as their representation and participation in the development and social innovation processes from a people-centered perspective. While this focuses on unlearning the decontextualised discourse of elitist cosmopolitan callings (Banerjee et al., 2023), it reimagines a new sociality that opens up new democratic spaces at the grassroots, expands people’s intersectional knowledges and provides an epistemological alternative. This positioning and approach are explored through grassroots examples from the South of participatory knowledge-making and solidarities.
About the Presenter
Professor Swati Banerjee, PhD is a Professor of Social Work and Social Innovation at the School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. She also coordinates the Right Livelihood College, Mumbai, which is part of a global network of universities initiated by the Right Livelihood Foundation. Her research interests include people-centred social innovation and development, community-based social entrepreneurship and empowerment of marginalised communities, participatory methodologies and human-centered design thinking for social change with a focus on epistemic justice and intersectionality. She has been a post-doctoral fellow at Lund University, Sweden and visiting faculty at many Universities worldwide, including the University of Roskilde, Lund University, University of British Columbia, etc. Her recent publications include co-edited volumes on, ‘People Centred Social Innovation: An emerging paradigm with global potential’ (Routledge, New York) and ‘Theory of Social Enterprise and Pluralism: Social Movements, Solidarity Economy, and Global South’ (Routledge, New York). She is also the Associate Editor of the Social Enterprise Journal (Emerald Publishing).