Daniel Nina, Doctor of Philosophy in Law and Social Theory, Master in International and Comparative Law and Professor at the universities of Puerto Rico Aguadilla or the Private University of Santa Cruz de Bolivia.
One of humanity's great intellectuals, the Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos, was implicated in an academic article published in a book in early April 2023, as a facilitator of misconduct associated with power and sexual harassment.
(San Juan, 12:00 p.m.) One of humanity's great intellectuals, the Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos, was implicated in an academic article published in a book in early April 2023, as a facilitator of misconduct associated with power and sexual harassment. In the chapter of the aforementioned book, no name is mentioned. Only the name of the institution is mentioned. With this fact, the most prominent sociologist still alive, influencer of great theories such as the epistemologies of the South, among others, was silenced, censored and removed from all academic positions he had enjoyed until that moment. The sociologist has been a man and intellect linked to the struggles of the left all his life.
Professor de Sousa Santos, is the founder of the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, Portugal; graduated from Harvard University, in Massachusetts, USA. USA; and a full professor, University of Madison, School of Law. His books, over 150, have no limits in description. His bibliography of articles in peer-reviewed academic journals also has no limits. What is important to note is that he was the academic intellectual most linked to the Portuguese revolution of 1974, called the Carnation Revolution. In other words, he has always been a profoundly left-wing intellectual.
Therefore, the book published in 2023, Sexual Misconduct in Academia: Informing an Ethics of Care in the University, provoked an accusation without naming those involved, from a group of researchers. The University of Coimbra opened an investigation in April 2023, and to date, that investigation committee has not been constituted and nothing has been investigated. As part of this article we wrote to the academic director of the center, and he did not respond to us.
On the other hand, a woman from Latin America, from a distance, accuses him of having sexually assaulted her. The person only accuses him through social networks, despite the fact that he never filed a legal action, neither in Latin America nor in Portugal. However, it is a matter that has not been addressed as it should be, and only her claim is heard. What made news was the chapter of the academic book, her claim has not been addressed with the same disposition as the one that arises from the book.
In any case, the effect of both accusations has been the same: to make invisible the voice, presence and intellect of Boaventura de Sousa Santos. An intellectual of the left, he is a very problematic voice for the right. An unfounded accusation, the lack of diligence in the management of an investigative committee, and the lack of interest in the testimony of a woman who accuses him of sexual assault, lead us to the conclusion that all this is collateral to the great project: to turn the page and invite us to oblivion.
It is time to rethink how lawfare occurs in the world. It is not possible to continue silencing voices, neither of men nor women of the right or left, through the formal justice system, or the informal mechanisms created by the internet. Think.
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