Schedule

With Marion Carrel, Université de Lille (France) Participation and deliberation are two distinct ideas that can enter into tension, one centered on the sharing of decision-making power, the other on public debate. However, they are often confused because they complement each other in the quest for a more inclusive democracy. This quest is not without risk of reproducing social inequalities and epistemic injustices, when participatory democracy is summed up as a participatory injunction: a top-down institutional offer that seeks neither to identify possible malfunctions in public action, nor to combat inequalities in citizenship. As a result, it proves counter-productive in curbing the democratic crisis, marked by mistrust of representatives. Yet citizen participation can be a lever for regenerating democracy, which is still a work in progress. Under certain conditions, it can transform public policies, stimulate the questioning of institutions and the emancipation of individuals and groups, particularly the most precarious and those far removed from public discourse. Attention to the relational dimension of citizenship, particularly from the “margins” or minority position in society, is central to this process, as it raises the question of the visibility of plural forms of contribution to the common good and expression of feelings of injustice. Acknowledging this ordinary citizenship, rooted in the daily lives of individuals and groups, does not mean, however, that we should lock ourselves into micro-localism or populism. Among the avenues open to inclusive democracy, the cross-fertilization of knowledge and practices between the worlds of associations, universities and professionals is proving fruitful. Democratic innovations are crucial in the dark context of polarized societies, informational disorder and restricted freedoms in times of crisis.

Whose Knowledge Counts? Bridging Knowledge Cultures in the Context of Climate Resilience *This activity will be conducted in English. Budd Hall, a settler Canadian living on the traditional territory of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples in what is called Victoria, British Colombia, Canada. He will share insights from a recent research project called Bridging Knowledge Cultures. This work develops the concept of knowledge cultures looking at the differences between the ways that knowledge is gathered, validated, shared, and acted upon in both academic and non-academic ways. He will also draw attention to the publication of the new book Teaching Community-Based Participatory Research and their new project, DECODE. He will be presenting about DECODE during the CRISES International conference between 10:15 and 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16 in the Community and social innovation session. It looks at decolonial community-led knowledge in the context of climate resilience. Budd Hall is located at the Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria. He has been working on the theory and practice of participatory research for over 50 years. He shares Chair of the UNESCO Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education with his friend and colleague, Rajesh Tandon of India. He is also a poet.

In recent years, academia and research have become prime targets for attack by conservative and authoritarian movements. Depicting institutions of higher education as propaganda sites for the left, these movements have scored major victories in public debate that have undermined the academic community. The rise to power of the far-right in the United States now shows the extent of the dangers facing academic institutions and the research community. In this pivotal moment, what can research do? What can it create and build, how can it resist and stand its ground? For the closing panel of its 7th international conference, CRISES brings together its former directors and its new director to discuss the ways in which the Centre has been a creator of breaches and interstices and, at times, a hub of resistance in the field of research and social transformation. The panel will also be an opportunity to explore the ways in which the conditions of creation and the trajectory of CRISES can inspire the future of research on social innovation and transformation in a context that surpasses, in intensity and depth, anything the Centre has experienced in the way of crises. With Benoît Lévesque , UQAM, Co-founder of CRISES and Director | 1986-2003 Juan-Luis Klein , UQAM, Director of CRISES | 2009-2018 Sylvain A. Lefèvre , UQAM, Director of CRISES | 2018-2024 Sonia Tello-Rozas, UQAM, Director of CRISES since June 2024 The panel will be moderated by Professor Nolywé Delannon (ULaval).