Providing a critical look at how it is possible for institutions of higher education to go beyond the institutional constraints that plague the neo-liberal university, the authors of this volume explore the powerful role of transformative university-based research and education. An emerging global network of concerned teachers and researchers who are currently engaged in dialogue with civil society and social movements, seek to construct another possible post-pandemic world built on premises of democracy, justice and peace.

 The emphasis on transformation points to alternative ways of doing research and education, associated with critical pedagogics and participatory action-research. This approach entails an intentionality to intervene in the debate and actual modus operandi of university research and education.

It seeks to replace the existing vertical division of labour between administrators, teachers and students with an alternative collaborative organization of the production and transmission of knowledge, conducted by co-researchers and co-learners. .