Learning from the Ground Up:Global Perspectives on Social Movements and Knowledge Production

"An extremely important book. Choudry and Kapoor point the way for a new form of scholarship where scholars, who are themselves committed activists, engage critically with the mass movements."---Robert Biel, Senior Lecturer of Political Ecology, University College London; author of The New Imperialism

"This is an exciting international contribution to developing knowledge production and learning from within---and for---social movement organizing. It demonstrates that our social movements are actively producing knowledge and providing crucial resources in our struggles for social justice and liberation."---Gary Kinsman, Professor of Sociology, Laurentian University; long-time queer liberation and anti-capitalist activist

"Going beyond simplistic calls to engage in `scholar-activism,' this book re-centers intellectual production within social movements themselves. It does not presume a romanticized notion of movement organizing, but brings a critical lens to the forces of co-optation and normalization within both the academy and activist arenas. A must-read."---Andrea Smith, Assistant Professor of Media and Cultural Studies University of California, Riverside

The dynamics, politics, and richness of knowledge production in social movements and social activist contexts are often overlooked. This book contends that some of the most radical critiques and understandings about dominant ideologies and power structures and visions of social change have emerged from those space. Written by contributors working closely with diverse social movements, NGOs, and popular mobilizations in the Asia/Pacific, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean, it articulates and documents knowledge production, informal learning, and education work that takes place in everyday worlds of social activism.

Aziz Choudry is Assistant Professor of Education at McGill University. A longtime organizer, educator, and researcher with Aotearoa/New Zealand activist group GATT Watchdog, he also served on the board of the Asia-Pacific Research Network from 2002-2004. Currently he sits on the boards of the Immigrant Workers Centre, Montreal, the U.S. Based Global Justice Ecology Project, and is a co-initiator and member of the editorial team of www.bilaterals.org. He is the co-author of Fight Back.
Dip Kapoor is Associate Professor of Theoretical, Cultural, and International Studies in Education at the University of Alberta and is Research Associate and Founding member of the Adivasi/Dalit rural people's Center for Research and Development Solidarity in South Orissa, India. Recent co-edited collections include: Education, Participatory Action Research, and Social Change; Education, Decolonization, and Development; Indigenous Knowledge and Learning in Asia/Pacific and Africa; and Global Perspectives on Adult Education.