February 23, 2024

Post-Colonialisms and Global Citizenship

Boaventura de Sousa Santos e Shirley Aparecida Miranda

This thesis is a comparative study between the Universidad Trashumante (UT) in Argentina and the Popular University of Social Movements (UPMS) in Brazil, both Popular Universities (UPs) in Latin America/Abya Yala. It is based on the epistemologies of the South, which proposes learning in co-presence with social movements and an "ecology of knowledges." The research aims to understand the emergence of knowledge born out of the social struggle in the elaboration of its "post-abyssal" conception. It analyzes the coloniality and limitations of conventional universities and the possible contributions of popular education to transform them. Thus, it is about the "battle of ideas" waged by historically marginalized groups against the "latifundium of knowledge" and the "monoculture of scientific knowledge." The hypotheses developed are that the UT and the UPMS, each with their own particularities, are embryonic of a "post-abyssal" knowledge and that the more effective approximation of UPs with conventional universities contributes to overcoming their legitimacy crisis. Organized in six chapters the thesis first discusses the theoretical currents of post-colonialisms, decolonial studies and epistemologies of the South. It justifies the choice for the latter by making a historical-critical cut of the European colonization of the region, now known as the American continent, focusing on the processes of cultural and educational domination, in which the university had a preponderant role, unfolding over the centuries. Secondly, opposing the hegemonic colonial process, the formation of popular education is presented as an original development of the region. It traces an overview of UPs experiences and their evolution throughout the 20th-21st centuries, with the most recent ones grouped into three categories according to their relationship with the State and construction of autonomy. Thirdly, the methodological option of is presented, which is the extended case study carried through "militant research" and participant observation. It makes use of the "sociologies of the absences and of emergencies", which allowed a deeper involvement with both UPs, both in the pedagogical and organizational aspects, perceiving the artisan ways of producing knowledge and alternative ways of doing politics. The research and field work trajectories, analyzed in the two empirical chapters and in the dialogue established in the final part, instigated the unlearning of established truths. Through "deep listening" and "being together", it was possible to learn and build new knowledge, socially committed, highlighting autonomy and joy as founding elements of this process in the case of UT and intercultural and inter-political translation in the case of UPMS.

Keywords: Popular Universities; Popular Education; Epistemologies of the South; Universidad Trashumante (UT); Popular University of Social Movements (UPMS)