On Decentralizing: epistemic authority beyond the centers of knowledge production
- CHAIR: Alis Oancea, University of Oxford
- Leandro Rodgriguez Medina, Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico
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The centre/periphery model is not new, but its validity remains due to at least three interrelated phenomena. First, science is produced in specific places based on the concentration of different symbolic, human and material resources. Second, the emerging asymmetries produce reinforcement mechanisms that tend to make inequalities persist over time, some of which are structural in nature. Third, the circulation of knowledge, although it has opened up space for thinking dynamically about the link between institutions, regions and forms of knowledge, always takes place in the context of asymmetries. From this perspective, the possibility of carrying out projects that seek greater epistemic justice requires, simultaneously and often contradictorily, that the peripheries develop their capacity to absorb and produce knowledge while the centres open up to the margins, both in terms of the content of their knowledge (decentering) and the production practices that sustain it (decentralising).
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This is the seventh webinar in CGHE’s special series, Racism and Coloniality in Global Higher Education. You can find out more about the full series here.
This CGHE webinar series explores what global racial equity would mean for the future of higher education, and addresses the challenges of decolonising research systems and pedagogic cultures. The aim is to promote knowledge of, and commitment to, anti-racism within universities, and amongst researchers and policymakers. Contributors will reflect on colonial institutional legacies, racialised institutional cultures, and the power of ‘whiteness’, drawing on empirical research in a range of higher education contexts. Questions to address include:
- Why are the legacies of colonialism often overlooked, or erased, in favour of a ‘colour blind’ analysis of global higher education’s hierarchies and inequalities?
- Is the institutional racism of today’s universities a historical legacy or a resurgent cultural dynamic, intersected by the geopolitics of internationalisation.
- What can we learn about the structural inequalities of the global knowledge system from critical geographers and scholars in Science and Technology Studies?
- What forms of profound and transformational change would be needed to create racial equity in global higher education and research?
- How are universities, faculties and students, addressing these colonial legacies? Can owning ‘whiteness’ and acknowledging white privilege – along with the JEDI agenda (justice, equality, diversity and inclusion) – help move these debates forward?
CGHE webinars are fully open to participants. They are interactive, enabling attendees to speak directly in the webinar, ask questions of speakers when called in by the chair and see all other participants. At any time you can communicate directly with others, either all together or on a one-to-one basis, through the webinar Chat.
Event Materials
This event is now archived and we are pleased to provide the following event media and assets, along with the original event overview.
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Alis Oancea leads CGHE Project 3, ‘The role of research in higher education and research assessment’.
Leandro Rodriguez Medina (PhD Cambridge) is Professor at the Department of International Relaciones and Political Science at Universidad de las Americas Puebla (UDLAP). He is member of the National System of Researchers at Level II (SNI) of the Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) and the founding Editor-in-Chief of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society. He had held visiting positions at Albert-Ludwig Universität Freiburg (Germany), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco (Mexico), the Institut des Hautes Etudes de l’Amérique latine at Université Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle (France) and the Centre Population et Développement at Université Paris 5-Descartes (France). His research interests are the social studies of science and technology, the international circulation of knowledge and the relationship between culture and cities.
