TL 1 – Epistemologies and Methodological Approaches

Coordination: Cristiana Lucas Silva

The emergence of Global Studies stems from the recognition that globalization affects everyday life and that the world needs innovative forms of reflection and action, promoting the capacity for international cooperation with a view to solving problems from a global perspective. This major objective is based on a multifaceted and non-hegemonic program applied to global contexts in which societies are seen as subsystems of the interdependent global world.

Based on dynamics of interconnection and interdependence, globalization brings societies closer together, while also generating challenges, inequalities and conflicts,  and influencing political and cultural processes. Such a phenomenon requires complex thinking which, according to Edgar Morin (Introduction to Complex Thinking , 2017), articulates knowledge and brings theory and practice closer together in a holistic and transdisciplinary approach.

Although Global Studies is a rapidly expanding field of research internationally, it is still a relatively new and little-known area in Portugal. This thematic line therefore contributes to producing theoretical reflection on Global Studies, as well as to the development of new approaches, guiding the way in which researchers understand, analyze and interpret global phenomena from a perspective of continuous training. This aspect is particularly relevant from the perspective of welcoming new researchers and training researchers at the beginning of their careers.

The activity of this thematic line is based on four fundamental axes: openness to multiple perspectives, through the appreciation of the diversity of knowledge and cultural perspectives; awareness of local social, economic and cultural realities, in their relationship with the global; interdisciplinarity, through the recognition that global problems and challenges cannot be understood in isolation, but rather in an articulated and holistic way; interconnectivity, as a dynamic of interaction and interconnection between global actors at different levels and in different contexts; and the assumption of a critical stance towards practices, perspectives and power structures that shape knowledge and global relations. The main object of the thematic line therefore consists of contributing to the epistemological cohesion of CEG-UAb, using existing spaces for dialogue, discussion and reflection, such as FOLEG – Fórum Liderar Estudos Globais (CEG-UAb coordinators’ forum , which meets annually to debate the center’s strategy), FIEG (a forum that brings together PhD students and professors in Global Studies, to present and discuss new research topics in Global Studies) and SIEG (International Seminar on Global Studies).