Chair: Barbara Göbel (Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin)
Panelists:
Neeladri Bhattacharya (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
Peter Kallaway (University of Cape Town)
David MacDonald (University of Guelph)
Hebe Vessuri (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia)
The question of which forms of knowledge are recognized as education – or in German “Bildung” – can be fundamentally contested. Therefore, the process that renders certain forms of knowledge education while excluding others needs to be problematized as an arena of (implicit) political struggle and as a way of wielding social power. Moreover, many regions outside Europe have been affected by colonial pasts. This panel seeks to address the complex topic of global knowledge asymmetries, by asking questions such as: What is the relationship between indigenous knowledge/education and external influences? To what extent have colonial legislation, the associated institutional structures and ideas of education, elite, etc. been impacting on (post-) colonial systems of education? What influence does the formation of the (nation-) state and subsequent politico-economic developments have on ideas and practices of inequality and education?