The politics of knowledge

09.30 – 11.00 30th of September

On the second day the kick-off plenary session ‘politics of knowledge’ builds on the inspiring opening speech of Michael Edwards. The politics of knowledge; increasingly we see the use of ‘knowledges’ in a multiple sense: after all, there is knowledge from academics and from practitioners, from North and South, from dominant and excluded sectors. But even if we can agree that there are indeed ‘multiple knowledges’, power differences often determine which knowledge is more important. So, who’s knowledge really counts? And which type of knowledge is required to change unequal power balances, if we assume that knowledge development is a complex and contested process? This session aims to unravel the power of knowledge and its potential to trigger and hamper societal change.

Contributions by Yulia Poskakukhina, Gina Vargas (Center for the Peruvian Women "Flora Tristán"), Kees Biekart (ISS), Josine Stremmelaar (Hivos).