Interweaving communities and universities: current epistemological challenges

Abstract

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to problematize and engage the readers in a discussion about the dominant trend in higher education around the world, and particularly in Latin America, in reproducing the status quo; making invisible alternative perspectives and insights that could reshape and empower research on notions of community development and sustainability with new imaginings that question the cultural-political-economic space defined by Euro centered notion of modernity. We will share the specific conceptual challenges we are facing while developing an international researchproject between rural community-based organizations, NGOs, and Colombian and Canadian universities, addressing issues of sustainability and education within Colombian Afro-descendent, Campesino and Indigenous contexts from a decolonial perspective.

Keywords

• Sociocultural paradigms
• Higher education policy
• Community engagement
• Ethnic and rural populations
• Decolonial perspectives.