Story of defamation
The accusations against Professor Boaventura de Sousa Santos are well known because, since the chapter published in an English-language book, signed by three former researchers from the Center for Social Studies (CES), was published in March 2023, they have been widely reproduced by the press.
It is curious that, immediately, despite the fact that in that chapter he made reference to three people, first anonymously and later identified, all the headlines focused solely on Professor Boaventura.
There are some data and episodes in the evolution of this matter that are not taken into account by the press and that are true and should be known. Below we present them
01
Self suspension within CES
At the time the accusations became known, it was Professor Boaventura who decided to step away from his duties within the CES. Suspending himself was the way to not interfere in the investigations, given that his intention has always been to clarify the facts as soon as possible.​
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It is the CES that, intentionally or not, incorrectly communicates his dismissal in a statement in which it claims to have suspended the teacher. Hours later the center later issued another statement explaining the error and stating that the suspension was an initiative of the Professor. However, this “error” had already produced its media effect and the rectification was barely picked up by the media.
02
Independent Commission
Professor Boaventura was the first interested in forming an Independent Commission to clarify the facts, something he requested on several occasions, publicly and privately, from the CES Directorate. Four months passed until the Commission was appointed (end of July 2023). The professor gave his testimony on December 4, 2023.
03
Publication of the article "A self-critical reflection: a commitment to the future"
​Shortly after the accusations occurred, BSS published an article, which should be remembered, in which it made very clear its respect for the rights and feelings that women may have, but in which it was not going to assume any criminal act, since there were none. task. Even so, he continued to face a presumption of guilt from the media sphere.​​​
04
The Routledge publisher deletes the initial article
The opening chapter was removed by the publisher La Routledge for being in “the difficult situation of defending specific accusations against named, but not previously identified, persons.” This withdrawal occurs because another of the people mentioned in the same chapter (María Paula Meneses) threatened to initiate legal action. It is false that Professor Boaventura threatened the publishing house, where he has published five books so far, with legal action. However, once again, all the headlines were directed at him, thus continuing the destruction of more than six decades of intense dedication to academic life and public intervention.
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After the publication of the defamatory chapter, numerous supports emerged from feminist colleagues who, after reviewing the article, decided to take a stand in favor of the professor.
After the publication of the defamatory chapter, numerous supports emerged from feminist colleagues who, after reviewing the article, decided to take a stand in favor of the professor.
05
Boaventura Statement on the Report of the Independent Commission
​Despite the news of the creation of the Independent Commission being published at the end of July 2023, the Professor was not called to testify until December 4, 2023. In a testimony that lasted three hours, the Professor presented more than 600 pages of documents to substantiate their claims. The main arguments and documents presented can be consulted here.
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When the report of the Independent Commission is published on March 13, 2024, the Professor issues a statement in which he highlights two issues: that he has collaborated at all times with the Commission, despite the fact that it has not followed a procedure transparent in terms of specific accusations (never mentioned by the members of the Commission during the testimony) and that at no time is he mentioned personally in this report. Therefore, attributing any conclusion to him is not correct.
06
Placed at the disposal of the Public Ministry
On March 20, 2023, 13 people signed a seriously defamatory letter against the professor.
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The professor immediately asked the CES management to provide him with the accusations made against him by the 13 signatories of the letter to the independent commission. The anonymity and secrecy of the testimonies given to the Commission no longer made sense as far as the 13 signatories of the letter were concerned.
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The management refused to provide the documents. The professor turned to the courts to access the documents and be able to defend himself effectively. This legal action is pending.
Meanwhile, the CES management decided to open an internal investigation process to evaluate the accusations made in the letter. On July 29, the professor met with the CES lawyers in charge of the investigations. The professor was willing to speak with the lawyers as long as they presented in writing the accusations made during the investigation process. Surprisingly, the lawyers refused to put the complaints in writing. After 16 months of smears in the press and on social media, it was to be expected that the professor knew exactly what had been said in order to be able to defend himself effectively.
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Given the refusal of the lawyers, the professor refused to make statements and decided, as a last resort, to go to the judicial system to defend his good name. He took two measures: making himself available to the Public Ministry to be investigated and filing a legal action against the signatories of the letter to defend their good name and honor.
08
Civil action for protection of honor
Seeing that in no official way has he been able to access the specific accusations leveled against him, in order to be able to defend himself correctly, he himself decided, in July 2024, to put himself at the disposal of the Public Ministry. To date, this body has not informed the professor that there is anything against him that warrants investigation.
After more than a year of public cancellation, as well as a cruel lynching, Professor Boaventura decided, as a last resource, to prosecute the matter. Not with spurious intentions as they have wanted to attribute to him, but as the only way to seek the defense of his good name. Let us remember that at no time has there been any complaint against him, which has meant that there has not been a contradiction process. Its intention is and always will be that the reality of the facts is known.
Boaventura Statements
That said, we collect below the statements provided by the Professor in the only interview given in all this time. They are important because of the context they provide to this case: