Rethinking research and knowledge
鈥淓pistemic justice鈥 has gained prominence as a critical framework for addressing inequalities in producing and disseminating knowledge. At its core, epistemic justice emphasises knowledge democracy and equity towards diverse voices and perspectives within knowledge sharing and acquisition. This requires a transformative 鈥榬ethinking鈥 that involves not only acquiring new insights, but also abandoning those of binary thinking, definitions stemming from traditional power relations and knowledge systems, those built upon historical issues of individualism and colonialism. Global challenges demand multiple and diverse knowledge systems. UNESCO endeavours to bring together varied perspectives across different research strands and sectors, to co-create and conceptualise epistemic justice. Our research aims to foster new ways of thinking, without which the potential of our 鈥榬eimaging our futures鈥 鈥 as called for by the International Commission on the Futures of Education - will reach a limit.
Mobilizing a new research agenda for the futures of education will both draw from, and generate significant amounts of, knowledge, data, and evidence, in a wide range of forms: quantitative and qualitative, normative and descriptive, digitizable and ephemeral, theoretical and practical... To value and recognize multiple ways of knowing should not be construed as an embrace of extreme relativism, or an abandonment of a commitment to truth. Far from it. Indigenous and pluralistic ways of knowing challenge assumptions to development models and practices that have failed to adequately address their reality.
UNESCO stepping up action on epistemic justice in research
Several key reports by UNESCO have emphasized the need for research that embraces epistemic diversity and pluralism. These include the , the , the report of the Expert Group on Universities and the 2030 Agenda, and the 鈥, held to mark the 30th Anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme.
XVIII World Congress聽of Comparative Education Societies
22-26 July 2024, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
UNESCO will co-convene the 2024 edition of the World Congress of Comparative Education Societies under the theme of 鈥淔ostering Inclusive Ecologies of Knowledge: Education for Equitable and Sustainable Futures鈥, with the World Council of Comparative Education Societies. The theme builds on issues raised at the 30th anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme and posits that global development is at a crossroads. Unsustainable ways of inhabiting the Earth are pushing the future of humanity and the planet to the brink. Dominant development models, based on the quest for control and exploitation of natural resources, have led to irreversible environmental destruction and biodiversity loss, threatening the very existence of humanity. Global economic growth over the past several decades has seen a greater concentration of wealth, widening inequalities and further undermining social cohesion and stability within and across societies. And while digital technologies have connected us more closely than ever, they are also contributing to social fragmentation. The fault lines that characterize current global development patterns threaten our collective futures.
Pathways of tomorrow: contribution to thinking commensurate with the planet
In a public lecture at UNESCO Headquarters on 3 November, Mr Professor Achille Mbembe, Director of Research, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), outlined a vision for new intelligence, new knowledge and new ways of learning and convening the disciplines to tackle the great questions of our time. He followed up with a paper that calls for the acceleration of a new planetary consciousness that recognises the interdependent relationships that human beings have with the environment, combats racism and draws on all of the 鈥渁rchives of the world鈥, including African systems of thought. Critical reflection will be needed to decolonize and transform our imaginaries. Once redefined, development will include the reconstruction of living environments; investment in ecosystems, local knowledge and artistic practices; the reinvention of law and democracy; and a broader conception of ecological justice.
UNESCO Chairs Seminars related to research and knowledge
UNESCO stepping up action on epistemic justice in research
Several key reports by UNESCO have emphasized the need for research that embraces epistemic diversity and pluralism. These include the , the , the report of the Expert Group on Universities and the 2030 Agenda, and the 鈥, held to mark the 30th Anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme.
