| Doctoral Programme "Democracy in the Twenty-First Century" |
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1. Presentation |
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Scientific Coordination Executive Coordination Scientific and Executive Coordination resulting from the partnership with the Federal University of Minas Gerais: From the academic year 2009/2010 onwards, the programme is developed within a new strategic partnership that brings together the vast research experience of CES/Associate Laboratory, the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC) and the Doctoral Programme of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG - Brazil). In a North-South and South-South interdisciplinary perspective, the Doctoral Programme "Democracy in the Twenty-First Century" aims to contribute to the development of the advanced study of political phenomena in the European context, as well as in Latin America and Africa.a) The Doctoral Programme and the CES The Doctoral programme ‘Democracy in the Twenty-first Century’ began in 2007/2008, starting its fourth edition in 2013/2014. It is adapted to the organisational forms proposed by the Bologna Declaration for the 3rd Cycle of Higher Education. Articulation of teaching-learning-research-action Within the 4 years of the Doctoral Programme “Democracy in the Twenty-first Century”, students may incorporate or accompany the numerous projects, on-going or to be developed at CES and UFMG, contributing towards the definition of studies and field work, participating in the elaboration of intermediate and final reports, publications or audio-visual material that constitute the those projects' deliverables. Students may choose to associate themselves to CES Research Groups, such as the Research Group on Democracy, Citizenship and Law, Research Group on Science, Economy and Society or others which conform to the research interests they aim to develop. Students may also contribute to the elaboration of research projects to be implemented in the permanent structures of CES, pursuing the analysis of important phenomena related with the transformations of democracy, such as the Observatory for Participation, Innovation And Local Governments (PEOPLES'), based on CES, Coimbra, as well as in the constituted Observatory for Brazilian Justice at UFMG. The Doctoral Programme articulates three essential lines of research: - Diversity and Citizenship The aim of this line of research is to compare different approaches concerning citizenship and to develop issues on cultural inclusion, interculturality, gender perspectives, as well as on the struggle for recognition of cultural and religious minorities, and different sexual orientation. This line also comprises researches that have approached issues as feminism, migrants’ integration, struggles for racial equality and other multi-ethnic issues. - Compared Democracies The goal of this line of research is to analyse practices that aim to innovate and develop democracy through different forms of citizen involvement regarding territorial and budget planning and on public policies decisions. Particular focus will fall upon innovations of local scope, such as Participatory Budget, and knowledge democratization practices, such as Health Councils, and others that relate different citizen knowledge with specific scopes of action of science and technology. Centrality will also be conferred to the reconstitutionalisation processes that occur in several African and Latin American countries, where consultation processes regarding civil society have been activated. The research work to be carried out by the students should comprise comparisons between two or more forms of participation or practices developed in different contexts. The elaboration of papers on the crisis of representation in compared perspective will also be valued. This line will also focus compared civil society and international dimensions of the concept of civil society. - Participation, networks and social movements The aim of this line of research is to analyse emergent social movements in Europe, Latin America and Africa and their interconnection networks, setting from a broad understanding of the concept of “political” and of the “politisation” effort. At stake is the possibility of transforming what seems non political into political. This transformation conveys approaching problems and experiences that have endured invisible to most of the civil society and State, and yet, creating new relations of power through high public visibility actions and confrontations. Student research papers in this area should focus on the comparison of these initiatives with other movements, registered in previous times and in different contexts. b) he doctoral programme During the first three semesters, teaching will be organised through seminars, 3 in each first year semester and 2 in the first semester of the second year. Each seminar, coordinated by a member of the programme's teaching staff will include a series of lectures given by professors and researchers from FEUC and CES, as well as teachers and experts who will be in Coimbra under research projects and research groups structuring CES research and reflecting the four main themes of the Doctoral Programme. The lectures will be an open space for participation and will address theoretical issues complementary to the Doctoral Programme, as well as practical experiences in which teachers have been directly involved, always related to the three research lines (Diversity and citizenship; Compared democracies; Participation, networks and social movements) that characterize the contents of this Doctoral Programme. The first semester of the second year focuses on a Research Seminar and an Update and Debate Seminar. The Research Seminar is conceived as a space for methodological training and reflection and is orientated towards the preparation of students’ research projects. Thus, students will actively participate in a set of seminars on thesis research and elaboration methods, as well as empirical research methods, whilst their experience and the dilemmas following their research plan preparation (e.g. implications of theoretical and methodological options) are essential elements of the curricular programme. At the end of this seminar, of compulsory attendance, all students must have prepared a first draft of their research project, which will later be critically reviewed by the programme’s teachers. The Update and Debate Seminar is developed in continuity with the first year conferences, counting on the participation of guest speakers from different working fields of CES and the Federal University of Minas Gerais, and also of external guest speakers related to on-going CES research projects. The seminar will also comprise the participation in international colloquiums and collective field trips. This seminar will also include other activities offered by CES. ring the second and third years students will develop their field work. During this period, frequent student/supervisor contact is expected, besides the elaboration and delivery of progress reports and a permanent dialogue regarding the developed research. During the fourth semester, optional field trips regarding international events on the Democracy theme (“Democracy Biennial” in Turin, Italy, “Reinventing democracy” in Grenoble, France) will be carried out. The third and fourth years are dedicated to thesis elaboration. On their return, students meet on a regular basis with their supervisors as to discuss and comment a first draft of the produced chapters that will integrate the thesis. This preliminary work will be presented to the teachers and to other students of the programme, in the context of a seminar particularly dedicated to thesis composition. In addition, students shall be offered the opportunity to attend other seminars and conferences, to which will be invited national and international highly acknowledged guest speakers. Once hosted by CES, the doctoral students are also Faculty of Economics students, which offers full support at academic level and excellent IT conditions. |