Team
Boaventura de Sousa Santos

Boaventura de Sousa Santos is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Coimbra (Portugal), and Distinguished Legal Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is Director Emeritus of the Center for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra. He earned an LL.M and J.S.D. from Yale University and holds the Degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, by McGill University. His most recent project - ALICE: Leading Europe to a New Way of Sharing the World Experiences - was funded by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (ERC), one of the most prestigious and highly competitive international financial institutes for scientific excellence in Europe (http://alice.ces.uc.pt/en/). He has written and published widely on the issues of globalization, sociology of law and the state, epistemology, social movements and the World Social Forum in Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian, French, German, Chinese, Danish, Romanian and Polish.>FURTHER 

Bruno Sena Martins

Bruno Sena Martins is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra (CES/UC). He is co-coordinator of the Doctoral Programme "Human Rights in Contemporary Societies". He was Vice-President of CES Scientific Board (2017-2019) and co-coordinator of the Research Group on Democracy, citizenship and law (2013-2016). He lectures in the PhD Programmes: "Postcolonialisms and Global Citizenship"" (FEUC/CES) and "Human Rights in Contemporary Societies" (CES/IIIUC). His research interests include body, disability, human rights, racism and colonialism. He was a member of the coordinating team of the project ALICE - Strange Mirrors, Unexpected Lessons, directed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos and funded by the European Research Council (2011-2016).>FURTHER

Cristiano Gianolla

Cristiano Gianolla is a researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra, where he is part of the research unit on Democracy, Citizenship and Law. He obtained a PhD in Sociology and Political Science by way of a dissertation on Gandhi's democratic theory and a comparative study of emerging political parties in India and Italy. Cristiano is the Principal Investigator of the UNPOP project (FCT, 2021-2024) and is a team member of the ECHOES (H2020, 2018-2021) and ALICE (ERC, 2011-2016) European projects. He is a founding member of the "Inter-Thematic group on Migrations" and co-coordinates the research group "Epistemologies of the South" at CES. He is coordinating editor of the Alice News, editor of e-cadernos scientific journal and Rightsblog, and a referee for other scientific journals. Cristiano coordinates the PhD course "Democratic Theories and Institutions", the MA course "Critical Intercultural Dialogue" (both at the Faculty of Economics of the UC), and the virtual course "The Challenges to Democracy in the XXI Century" (Latin American Council of Social Sciences). He has authored two books, and various articles and chapters elaborating on democratic theory, populism, postcolonialism, intercultural dialogue, heritage processes, movement-parties, citizenship, human rights, migrations, and cosmopolitanism. His current research interests focus on emotions and narratives in democratic processes.>FURTHER

João Arriscado Nunes

João Arriscado Nunes is Full Professor of Sociology at the School of Economics and Senior Researcher at the Center for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal, of which he was Executive Director (1998-2000). He is co-coordinator of the Doctoral Program "Governance, Knowledge and Innovation) and a member of the Advisory Council of the Portuguese Sociological Association. He was a member of the coordinating team of the project ALICE - Strange Mirrors, Unexpected Lessons, directed by Boaventura de Sousa Santos and funded by the European Research Council (2011-2016). In 2011-2012, he was Visiting Researcher at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His research interests include social studies of science and technology (namely social studies of biomedicine, health and the life sciences and public engagement with science and technology), political sociology (democracy and participation), Human Rights and social theory. >FURTHER

Maria Paula Meneses

Maria Paula Meneses is a Principal researcher at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra. A Mozambican scholar, she did her graduate studies in Russia (MA in History from St. Petersburg University) and obtained her PhD in the USA, by Rutgers University. In 2009 she was a visiting scholar at EHSS, Paris. Currently she is the Vice-President for Scientific activities at CES. Her research focus on the political history and socio-legal complexity of southern Africa, especially in Mozambique, Angola and South Africa. At the heart of her interests are the relations between knowledge, power and societies. Paying special attention to people who experienced the violence of the colonial encounter her academics and activist activities seek ways to decolonize knowledge and contribute towards the Epistemologies of the South. At the CES Maria Paula Meneses develops several research projects and teaches in two PhD programs, namely Postcolonialisms and Global Citizenship and Human Rights in the 21st th century. Internationally she co-coordinates, with Boaventura de Sousa Santos and Karina Bidaseca, CES-CLACSO e-learning specialization course on Epistemologies of the South. Her work has been published in journals, books and reports in several countries, including Mozambique, Spain, Portugal, Senegal, USA, England, Germany, Colombia, amid others.>FURTHER