About

The training course Disarming current oppressions from the epistemologies of the South: capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy results from a close collaboration between the University of Seville, the Programme in Epistemologies of the South of the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, the Working Group on Epistemologies of the South and the Sur-Sur Programme of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), in the framework of their outreach and dissemination activities around the epistemologies of the South.

The epistemologies of the South propose the expansion of the political imagination beyond the intellectual and political exhaustion of the global North. This exhaustion has translated into the inability to face the challenges of this century and into threats to democracy, rights and human dignity. The global South, the South that we will discuss in this course, is a metaphor for the human suffering caused by the great forms of oppression - capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy - and the various forms of struggle and resistance to these forms of oppression.

Epistemologies of the South seek to broaden the possibilities of rethinking the world from the knowledges and practices of the Global South, challenging attempts at epistemicide, linguicide or epistemic subalternisation. With this course we seek to provide theoretical and methodological instruments that allow the development of a critical diagnosis of the present, having as a constitutive element the possibility to reconstruct, formulate and legitimise alternatives for a more just and free society.

Where, when and how?

The course will take place on 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 November 2021, by e-learning, using the University of Seville's blackboard platform.

Timetable: 15h00-20h30 (Spain) || 14h00-19h30 (Portugal) || 10h00-15h30 (Argentina) || 10h00-15h30 (Brazil) || 15h00-20h30 (Angola) || 16h00-21h30 (Mozambique)

The total number of hours of the course is 25.

Teaching load: 2.5 credits / 25 hours: certificate

45 students, with 15 scholarships

Organisation of the course

The course begins with an opening lecture, followed by a Q&A. During the following three days two presentations will take place, by two speakers. Each presentation will last 20-25 minutes, introducing themes and questions that will stimulate the discussions to be developed in the workshops that will follow between the participants. Each day ends with a moment of debate between the students and the presenters (20 min.). The use of audio-visual material is recommended.

The course closes with a collective session designed to encourage collaborative reflection and the transfer of knowledges among all the participants.

Who is the course aimed at?

Students, teachers, social movement activists and the general public. The e-learning training course is open to participants located on three continents: Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Africa.

Working languages

The languages of communication of the course will be Spanish and Portuguese, respecting the various versions present in the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America / Caribbean and Africa, contributing to the intercultural transfer of knowledges and situated know-how.

Objectives of the course

The main objective of this advanced training course is to promote South-South interdisciplinary dialogues in order to broaden reflection, show and make visible, record, interpret and extend the knowledges that sustain social struggles in our times.

The course is based on three fundamental axes based on the epistemologies of the South:

1. That the understanding of the world is much broader than the  Western understanding of the world;
2. That alternatives are not lacking in the world. What is indeed missing is an alternative thinking of alternatives;
3. That the epistemic diversity of the world is infinite and no general theory can hope to understand it;
4. That the alternative to a general theory is the promotion of an ecology of knowledges combined with intercultural translation.

The course is designed as an environment for work and co-participative construction of knowledges born from experiences, from a pro-active and innovative pedagogical methodology. The course will function based on dynamic co-work in reflective teams during the workshops, where students and lecturers share knowledges and dilemmas about the problems that mark the contemporary world. The horizon of decolonisation of knowledge and the university is also an objective.

Registration fee: 10€

Applications

Applicants to this advanced training course should submit a biographical note (up to 300 words) and a motivation letter (up to 700 words) outlining why they would like to attend the course, how the course topic relates to their interests and how it would enrich their knowledge, as well as describing how their participation could contribute to stimulating discussions and enriching the knowledge of the group.

Applications must be submitted [HERE] by midnight, September 20th 

For any queries or further information please use the email address epistemologiasdosul2021@ces.uc.pt

Important Dates

September 20 - deadline for submission of application
October 10 - notice to selected participants
October 15-25 - registration and payment

Organising Committee/Coordination: Angeles Castaño, Karina Bidaseca, Maria Paula Meneses