Society, 18(1), 6. Available online from http://dx.doi. Stirling, A. (2009) Direction, Distribution and Diversity!

org/10.5751/ES-05292-180106. Pluralising Progress in Innovation, Sustainability and

Ostrom, E. (1990) Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Development. STEPS Working Paper No. 32. Brighton:

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Institutions for Collective Action. New York: Cambridge STEPS Centre.
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mance and Social Progress. Paris: OFCE – Centre de
recherche en économie de Sciences Po.

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THE CHALLENGES (Leff, 2004). The ways of thinking about and interpre-

II.2.2 OF KNOWLEDGE
IN A KNOWLEDGE
tations that different cultures have of the position of the
human species on Earth have had enormous importance
because, somehow, they have legitimized humans’
DEMOCRACY development, which means the relationship between
Jesús Granados Sánchez and humans and between humans and their environment.
Cristina Escrigas The social sphere also has to do with governmental
politics and actions which create structures that can
At this point in history, we need to review the idea enable, or not, the conditions for the development of a
of what reality is and the mechanisms by which we collective intelligence (Innerarity, 2011).
produce knowledge. It is not possible to build a new Although science and cultural backgrounds provide
world order if it does not change our perception of a framework of common social knowledge, endless
what reality is and what is true. It is time for a revision personal versions derive from this framework. Each
and an enlargement of the conception of knowledge. individual’s cultural learning is unique due to that
person’s particular experience in the community, which
is established by factors such as education, geographical
UNDERSTANDING REALITY IN A KNOWLEDGE context, social relationships, occupation, and so on. This
DEMOCRACY experience is also established by personal cognitive
factors (which form the so-called psychological world)
Thanks to the contributions of socio-constructivism, such as memory, imagination, experience, values, evalu-
we can affirm that internal aspects of an individual’s ation, understanding, thought processing, command of
cognition and collectivity issues are involved in the the language (very important during the learning process),
development of knowledge, which means that subjects sensations and personal emotions, which are conveyed by
construct their own knowledge from their perceptions the ecological and the social world. Ultimately, we can
and through the subsequent restructuration that makes say that every person creates for themself a subjective
in terms of society. Therefore, we nowadays believe image of the world according to their life in society and
that knowledge relates partly to genetic potential, and their experiences and personal history. This is what Fien
that it is also a social product and a personal recon- (1992) called personal geography and Simmons (1993)
struction (Benejam, 2005). lifeworld. The great diversity of personal records is very
According to Simmons (1993), we can say that valuable since it brings to humanity different ways of
humans occupy, in addition to an ecological world, reading our surroundings, and getting to know the ‘world’
a social and a psychological world. The ecological of the others both helps and enriches us in restructuring
world refers to the place we are, the physical real- our own ideas and visions.
ity that is governed by the laws of nature, which is The ecological, social and psychological worlds
unique and objectified. The social world constitutes the are spheres that act simultaneously in each individual,
organization of people and the knowledge that groups enabling the creation of a personal reality through the
have developed to explain the ecological reality that processes of perception and cognition that enable action
surrounds them. Every civilization has a collective (Figure II.2.2.1). But, as Chambers (1997) pointed out,
mentality that has shaped its own cultural rationality not all realities count, and some individuals impose

60 HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WORLD 5

their realities on others (those they deem ‘lower’ than historical product and therefore that it remains subject
them). The result is the implementation of hierarchies of to interpretation and change (Benejam, 2005).
knowledge or regimes of truth that are sustained through Given the fact that science is an instrument to under-

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discourses, institutions and practices, and that determine stand the world, and seeing that the world is changing
which knowledge is true, assuming that some individuals at a fast pace, it is somehow perceived that science and
and groups know better than others, and therefore that the scientific method (which were conceptualized and
decisions over action must fall on them. This is the case created and emerged in a world that is not the world of
with science. For Bunge (1998) ‘Science is the source today) can no longer give answers to many demands,
of knowledge that provides the different societies the especially to the large changes and challenges that
basis of their knowledge.’ Along the course of history, occur on a planetary scale (Clark et al., 2005). There-
Western society has valued and trusted both science and fore, this perception creates a need for a new relation-
technology, and these have been converted into a myth. ship between science and society that corresponds to

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We have to admit that scientific knowledge has helped in the new demands.
the conceptual reconstruction of the world, and it keeps
getting wider and deeper all the time. But one of the
most prominent contributions to the epistemology of the THE CHALLENGES FOR KNOWLEDGE
last century has also been the consideration that science
is showing the limits of reason and the impossibility of Figure II.2.2.2 expresses the need to enlarge the
reaching a true knowledge. conception of knowledge through six main domains:
a recognition of the plurality of sources and cosmovi-
Ecological sions of knowledge, and the need for a dialogue among
world them; a knowledge that is comprehensive; the use of
knowledge to take action; the creation of holistic and
complex knowledge to understand the whole; the
democratization of knowledge and power through the
co-creation of knowledge; and the assumption of a
dynamic and creative knowledge.

Action

Cognition

Perception

Social Psychological
world world

FIGURE II.2.2.1 Key spheres in knowledge creation

Source: After Granados (2010).

Science is defined as the group of answers that

the scientific community gives to the problems of the
moment. It seems clear that if these scientific answers
to theory are provided by certain people, these people
cannot be separated from their context. This means that
their answers are affected by the acknowledgement of
the problems of the moment, by the social urgencies
and the necessities that make certain issues the centre
of attention, by how they understand and see reality
according to the knowledge available to them, and
by the interests of the power groups and structures
that rule the world in every period. If we accept that
FIGURE II.2.2.2 Key issues for enlarging the conception of
scientific knowledge is a social product elaborated by knowledge
people through time, this implies that knowledge is a Source: Granados (2013).

KNOWLEDGE IN A NEW ERA 61

 PLURALITY AND DIALOGUE: THE ECOLOGY OF Being infinite, the plurality of knowledge existing in
KNOWLEDGE the world is unreachable as such, since each way of
We must move on from considering that the only knowing accounts for it only partially, and from its

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criteria of truth and validity of knowledge are found in own specific perspective alone. On the other hand,
science, in the sense that other knowledge is consid- however, since each way of knowing exists only in
ered non-existent or irrelevant and assuming that any the infinite plurality of knowledge, none of them
knowledge is incomplete. Therefore, the ecology of is able to understand itself without referring to the
knowledge recognizes the plurality of knowledges and others. Knowledge exists only as a plurality of ways
establishes the necessary epistemological dialogue of knowing, just as ignorance exists only as a plurality
between the different constellations or sources of of forms of ignorance. The possibilities and limits of
knowledge, which must be complementary. understanding and action of each way of knowing can
The debate on the relationships between science and only be grasped to the extent that each way of know-

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other knowledges (de Sousa Santos et al., 2007) is a ing offers a comparison with other ways of knowing.
critical aspect for scientific knowledge and the hegem- Such comparison is always a reduced version of the
ony of Western thought. Dominant Western scientific epistemological diversity of the world, the latter
knowledge currently obscures or underprivileges other being infinite. What I call ecology of knowledge lies
forms of knowing and the voices of other knowers. For in this comparison … The limits and possibilities of
Boaventura de Souza Santos (2007, pp. 3–4): each way of knowing reside, thus, ultimately, in the
existence of other ways of knowing. They can only be
this monopoly is at the core of the modern epistemo- explored and valorized in comparison with other ways
logical disputes between scientific and nonscientific of knowing. The less a given way of knowing knows
forms of truth. Since the universal validity of a the limits of its knowing about other ways of knowing,
scientific truth is admittedly always very relative, the less aware is it of its own limits and possibilities.
given the fact that it can only be ascertained in relation This comparison is not easy, but herein lies the learned
to certain kinds of objects under certain circumstances ignorance we need in our time. (de Sousa Santos,
and established by certain methods, how does it relate 2009, p. 116)
to other possible truths which may even claim a higher
status but which cannot be established according to Each exercise of ecology of knowledge implies a
scientific methods, such as reason as philosophical selection of ways of knowing and a field of interaction
truth or faith as religious truth … On the other side of in which the exercise takes place. An unlimited number
the line, there is no real knowledge; there are beliefs, of ecologies of knowledge is possible, as unlimited
opinions, intuitive or subjective understandings, as the epistemological diversity of the world. For de
which, at the most, may become objects or raw Sousa Santos (2009), the ecology of knowledge faces
materials for scientific inquiry. two problems: how to compare ways of knowing given
the epistemological difference; and given that plurality
The ecology of knowledge is an epistemological of knowledge is infinite, how to create the set of ways
and political option of a new kind of solidarity among of knowing that partake of the ecology of knowledge.
social actors or groups. According to Simmons (1993), To deal with the former, de Sousa Santos (2009)
it is necessary to consider ‘other plants in the garden’, proposes translation; to deal with the latter, artisanship
since with them and with their cultivation the universal of practices.
benefit can be greater. It is more than a recognition
of the invisible; it is about valuing all our indigenous COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE
ancestral heritage and placing it in an equal position Traditionally, rational knowledge has been considered
with other sources of knowledge. We also have to to be of a higher order. Novo (2006) states that the
recover the value of tacit knowledge, of everyday value of feelings, emotions and affection has been
knowledge, of the knowledge of rural and indigenous expelled from the rational discourse. We think that
cultures as other legitimate and complementary forms knowledge must be considered as an equilibrium and
of knowledge (Novo, 2006). What matters is the a mixture of different human ways of knowing and
epistemological dialogue and complementarity among capturing reality that includes intuitive, experiential
constellations of knowledge: and emotional knowledge and reason.
Knowledge also should seek a balance between
personal aspects, such as values, affective and cogni-

62 HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WORLD 5

tive learning, rationality and intuition, the object and is privately produced and for private consumption,
the subject, the material and the spiritual, and collec- to a commitment to the socialization of knowledge
tive aspects, such as economics and ecology, present for the common public good. The current emphasis

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and future, local and global, individual and community in knowledge production and consumption is based
(Sterling, 2001). on the assumption that knowledge is a commodity;
in contrast, the knowledge commons view informs
USE OF KNOWLEDGE TO TAKE ACTION the significance of social control over the produc-
The creation of knowledge needs not only to describe, tion and utilization of knowledge. In such a shift,
but also to prioritize its capacity of transformation, commitment to knowledge as a contribution to the
taking into account the context of phenomena and common public good may transform meanings and
acquiring a problem-solving perspective and the crea- practices in public spheres.
tion of alternative futures. Thus, knowledge has to

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integrate a scalar variable in all forms (local, national, DYNAMIC AND CREATIVE KNOWLEDGE
regional, global, and so on) and in all its interrelation- Today, information and communication technolo-
ships, and it must also incorporate the time variable in gies, the so-called social web, enable us to access and
its different forms (circular time, cyclical time, and so share information and knowledge, and to interact and
on) and considerations. collaborate with others easily and instantly through
In terms of social change, we find that action and communities with the same interests, while at the
intervention are as important as cognition and ration- same time contributing to enhanced sociability. This
ality in the knowledge-creation process. Therefore, scenario presents a total revolution for knowledge: the
knowledge is to be guided by ethical criteria, especially chaotic interaction allows different ideas and types of
regarding their technological applications and the knowledge to be brought into contact, which results
repercussions arising from their impact. It is about in multiple combinations or mutations that favour
including ethics attached to precaution (Novo, 2006). creativity and innovation. The processes of knowledge
creation, knowledge management and validity are short
HOLISTIC AND COMPLEX KNOWLEDGE in time, and their evolution is unpredictable.
Knowledge must integrate its humanistic and
technological orientations, and must have multiple
perspectives and be built upon cross-disciplinary BEING KNOWLEDGIASTIC
bases and complexity. Complexity implies the limits
of knowledge and an assumption of ignorance, The leitmotiv of the 6th International Barcelona Confer-
uncertainty and insecurity. The aim of knowledge is ence on Higher Education organized by GUNi was
to understand the whole. ‘Be Knowledgiastic’ (Figure II.2.2.3).1 We suggested
this new term to designate an attitude of being: ‘Being
DEMOCRATIZATION AND POWER: SOCIAL CO- knowledgiastic is to show enthusiasm about and actively
CREATION OF KNOWLEDGE encourage the co-creation of transformative knowledge’.
Knowledge is seen as being in the hands of a monopoly ‘Being knowledgiastic’ implies actively incorporating
of expert knowledge producers, who exercise power six changes into the way we handle, use, build and
over others through their expertise (Hall, 2002; understand knowledge. There must be:
Tandon, 2002). Power relationships affect both those ●● a movement from a mono-culture of scientific
who participate and those whose knowledge counts knowledge to an ecology of knowledge;
(Gaventa, 2006), as well as how knowledge is social- ●● a passage from rational knowledge to comprehen-
ized and used. sive knowledge;
The current polycentric production of knowledge ●● a move from descriptive knowledge to knowledge
must consider the universities, the new centres of for intervention;
expertise, as well as all the agents that can and want ●● a change from partial knowledge to holistic and
to be involved in hybrid, horizontal and cooperative complex knowledge;
spaces of reflection and action, with the purpose of ●● abandonment of the isolated creation of knowledge
co-creating the needed knowledge in each situation. in order to start building a social co-creation of
This reflective modernization is also a promotion of knowledge;
equity in the spread, use and creation of knowledge. ●● a change from conceiving a static use of knowledge
This view of knowledge moves from knowledge that to a dynamic and creative knowledge.

KNOWLEDGE IN A NEW ERA 63

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FIGURE II.2.2.3 ‘Be Knowledgiastic’

Universities are already beginning to make some of Bunge, M. (1998) La ciencia: su método y su filosofía.
these shifts. A practice of knowledge democracy linked Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana.
Chambers, R. (1997) Whose Reality Counts? Putting the
to an intelligent society would be supported by dramatic First Last. London: Intermediate Technology.
increases in the varieties of community–university Clark, W.C., Crutzen, P. J. and Schellnhuber, H.J. (2005)
engagement that are arising now in thousands of crea- Science for Global Sustainability: Toward a New
tive and imaginative ways in universities in literally Paradigm. CID Working Paper No. 120, Center for
International Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
every part of the world. This would build on a vision University.
for a new architecture of knowledge and an activist de Sousa Santos, B. (2007) ‘Beyond abyssal thinking:
sense of social responsibility in higher education. from global lines to ecologies of knowledges’. Review,
XXX(1), 45–89.
de Sousa Santos, B. (2009) ‘A non-occidentalist West?
Learned ignorance and ecology of knowledge’. Theory,
NOTE Culture and Society, 26(7–8), 103–25.
de Sousa Santos, B., Nunes, J.A. and Meneses, M.P. (2007)
1 The term ‘knowledgiastic’ was first presented during the ‘Opening up the canon of knowledge and recognition
plenary session ‘Building the World We Imagine’ at the of difference’. In: de Sousa Santos, B. S. (ed.) Another
6th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Educa- Knowledge is Possible. London: Verso, pp. xix–lxii.
tion, where the chair of the session engaged the audience Fien, J. (1992) Geografia, sociedad i vida quotidiana. Docu-
with an unexpected activity: about 30 boxes were passed ments d’Anàlisi Geogràfica 21. Barcelona: Universitat
to the attendees for expressing their wishes and commit- Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament de Geografia,
ments for the world they imagined, by drawing and writ- pp. 73–90.
ing in the boxes. As a result of the activity, a wall was Gaventa, J. and Cornwall, A. (2006) ‘Challenging the
created and became the leitmotiv of the conference: ‘Be boundaries of the possible: participation, knowledge and
Knowledgiastic’. power’. IDS Bulletin, 37(6), 122–8.
Granados, J. (2010) L’Educació per la Sostenibilitat a
l’Ensenyament de la Geografia. Un estudi de cas. PhD
thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Retrieved
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experiències. In: Benejam, P., Castellanos, J., Fontana, J., edge’. Presented to the 6th International Barcelona
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ENLARGING THE enduring characteristic of ancient knowledge: having

II.2.3

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a common source, complementarity, unity and both
CONCEPTION OF
internal and external coherence.
KNOWLEDGE: THE Now, everything that was created is also internally
DIALOGUE BETWEEN and externally interconnected, coherent and at peace.
ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE This knowledge and great awareness are distributed in
AND SCIENCES creations and living things – in the rocks, in the plant
Manuel Ramiro Muñoz and world, in the animal world and in human beings. So
Paul Wangoola if you want knowledge, you need to be surrounded by
all these things, because that is where knowledge is,
The following text is the dialogue that Paul Wangoola and you learn from them. In our case, to ensure that
and Ramiro Muñoz had at the 6th International Barce- we do not lose any knowledge, we deeply believe that
lona Conference on Higher Education, Let’s Build everything that is living is our brother. The rock is our
Transformative Knowledge to Drive Social Change senior brother and sister; the plant world is also our
(Barcelona, May 2013). The two speakers contributed senior brother and sister, and the animals are our senior
to enlarging the conception of knowledge from the brothers and sisters. To demonstrate that, each one of
dialogue between ancient indigenous knowledge and us has a totem to emphasize our unity with the rest of
scientific knowledge. Both of them are part of these beings and nature.
two worlds. Paul Wangoola, who comes from Uganda,
from the African ancestral tradition, is the founder and Manuel: The characteristics of ancient African indig-
president of the Mpampo African Multiversity. He enous knowledge, described by Paul, are not very
plays diverse advising roles related to heritage, history different from those of ancient indigenous knowledge
and reconciliation in Uganda. Manuel Ramiro Muñoz in Central and South America. I would add that the
comes from Colombia and is the Director of the Inter- criteria of truth and validity are totally different from
cultural Studies Center at the Pontificia Universidad those we have in the scientific world. I would like to
Javeriana of Cali, Colombia. express this through an aphorism from the Nasa people
which says that ‘The word without the action is empty;
the action without the word is blind; the word and the
WHICH ARE THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTERISTICS action outside the spirit of the community is death.’
OF ANCIENT HOLISTIC KNOWLEDGE? To avoid being empty, any word has to be supported
by action, in a relation that, in our jargon, would be
Paul: One main characteristic of African ancient that between theory and practice. To avoid turning
and indigenous knowledge is that knowledge has a into activism, the action needs the word. And here is a
common source. That common source was there before high value given to knowledge built through the word,
God, before time and before matter. It is sometimes either oral or written.
called the creative force or the vital force – a force But the ultimate criterion of truth and validity for
that is responsible for the creation of all beings and the word and the action, as the aphorism ends saying,
all living things. And living things and every creation is in the community praxis. What makes a word, an
share the characteristics of this vital force, which is action or both valid and relevant is the extent to which
coherent and multiple in its being, but also coherent it builds community. And, as Paul said, the community
and a complementary unity of opposites. That is a very does not only belong to human beings. All peoples,

KNOWLEDGE IN A NEW ERA 65