ABSTRACT
In regard to knowledge circulation between science, society and politics, relations between universities and society are characterized by a power asymmetry, in which academic ‘hegemonic’ knowledge is positioned above the knowledge of citizens, while their knowledge is often overlooked. The academic knowledge produced in the institutions of the global North is based on Western ‘rationality’ and ‘scientificity’ and is constructed by a homogenous group of academicians (Boidin, Cohen & Grosfoguel 2012; Mbembe 2016). Attempts at decolonization of this knowledge have been formulated, for instance, in the field of collaborative action or participatory research (Napier-Moore 2010; Rappaport 2008). Some researchers began to operate in cities, to apply collaborative research approaches to communities with the aim to create new forms of knowledge by collaboratively creating it with urban citizens. Niewöhner, for instance, who calls cities ‘laboratories of knowledge’ (Niewöhner 2014, p. 28), argues that collaboration and reflexivity develop not in the distance but in the context of intensive exchange and by being involved in the field of urban everyday life. In regard to collaborative research (Sykes & Treleaven 2009), an attempt is made to acknowledge the great heterogeneity and plurality of forms of knowledge within and outside universities. To comprehend this heterogeneity and facilitate knowledge circulation, city researchers recommend replacing conventional, time-restricted research projects with long-term research infrastructures (Niewöhner 2014; Sykes & Treleaven 2009) as spaces where universities and urban players can meet at eye level in order to grasp the complexity of ‘actual people’s lives as lived’ (Niewöhner 2014, p. 205).
