Open and responsible science: From harm to justice in knowledge production

As part of ISS' 70th anniversary celebrations, we will host an event on Open and Responsible Science, Engaged Research and Epistemic Justice: From harming to healing through knowledge co-creation.

The discussion will revolve around the following questions:

1. Which injustices in knowledge production and co-creation do invited speakers experience in their (communities’) life and work?
2. What are their demands towards academia/academics?
3. What alternative forms of knowledge production and co-creation do they propose?

Speakers

• Julián Dzul Nah has a degree in Intercultural management by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; a master's degree in Mesoamerican Studies from the same University and is currently a doctoral student in this same programme,  where is also a teacher for bachelor’s students. Julian has coordinated and led various research and participatory-action research projects, especially with Mayan children and Mayan people from Yucatán Península. His current interests are indigenous narratives about the end of the world and eschatological attitudes, religious festivities and ethnographical photography. 

• Abrahan Collí Tun is an Intercultural project manager, researcher and teacher. He has developed and led research projects and facilitates programmes for the dissemination of knowledges. Abraham also collaborates with diverse local organizations from Yucatán Peninsula with the development and coordination of projects, acting as networker between various local and supra-regional actors and partners. He is currently a doctoral student in the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, conducting ethnographies about reparation and caring.

• Zuleika Sheik is a poet, yogi and Lecturer in Gender Studies at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She recently defended her PhD thesis, 'Liminagraphy - Life-affirming research practices' at the International Institute of Social Studies. As a South African of Indian descent, her work centres on onto-epistemological re-existence and collective liberation. Her areas of focus include decolonizing methodology, decolonial feminism, black studies, transformative justice and abolition studies.

• Irina Hornstra is a 65-year-old sex worker from the Netherlands. As a transwoman she entered sex work at the age of 59. Before that she worked as a banker in the Netherlands and as an investment banker in New York. Besides being a sex-worker, she is also an entrepreneur and has a booth at the Noordermarkt where on Saturday’s she sells organic bread. Irina graduated from the University of Groningen with a Bachelor in Business Administration. Irina is also an activist and advocates for the improvement of the position of sex workers in society. She currently is one of the coordinators of the Sekswerk Alliantie Destimatisering, an alliance of organizations advocating for the rights of sex workers in the Netherlands. Her responsibility is community development. She recently also took on a role in rejuvenating Proud, the union for sex workers in the Netherlands.

• Udita Sanga is an interdisciplinary systems scientist with a dual PhD in Community Sustainability and Environmental Science & Policy from Michigan State University, USA. Her research  spans various geographic contexts including sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia on topics such as sustainable agricultural transformations, food security, climate change adaptation, sustainable groundwater management, conservation agriculture and community-based risk management. Udita currently works as a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre affiliated with Stockholm University, Sweden where she applies systems thinking methods and participatory approaches to develop models that serve as tools for community and stakeholder engagement (including farmers, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers) and reflexive, participatory decision support. She brings her identity as an indigenous woman of colour and an interdisciplinary social-ecological scientist in the application of diversity within academia. She strives for different 'ways of understanding, creating and accessing knowledge' including but not limited to alternate ways of knowledge creation and sharing in both research and teaching. 

• Madhuri Xalxo has been on a quest to make justice accessible to the poor and the marginalized for over 15 years. She is a lawyer, academic and development professional. Madhuri started her career as a practicing lawyer in Jamshedpur’s Session Court where she was focused on simplifying the complex legal language and processes for the poor. She later joined National Law University Odisha, Cuttack, as a teaching associate, and then subsequently moved to Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, as an Assistant Professor, to support the Access to Justice programme for the marginalized communities. Madhuri has since also worked with organizations such as International Justice Mission to activate law enforcement to eradicate bonded labour in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. Currently, Madhuri is pursuing MPhil/PhD in Law on Modern Slavery at SOAS, University of London. Madhuri has a BA LL.B. (Hons) degree in Law from NALSAR, University of Law, Hyderabad and an LLM from University of Dundee, UK

Background

In 2022, researchers from the Civic Innovation research group at the International Institute of Social Studies, its Diversity and Inclusion team alongside colleagues from the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus School of Law and RDS drew up a series of 6 principles that connect ORS to epistemic justice.

During this event we will explore these principles in the context of academic research.

The speakers will focus specifically on the how and the ways of working, including transformative methodologies, that aim to overcome epistemic injustice in knowledge production. A key contribution will come from representatives of marginalized communities and how they perceive the application of these principles. 

The event will explore opportunities, problems and impact of adopting transformative methodologies in researching marginalized communities.

The event will be followed by drinks in the Atrium.