Brazil’s Instituto Lula – a public policy foundation created by former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to promote democracy, equitable economic development and citizenship – is inviting academics for a 10-week programme to research and discuss sovereignty and self determination in the digital age.
“This project has the ambitious aim to contribute with the elaboration of public policies which promote national development in a fair and democratic fashion, freeing the current political process from the digital neocolonization trend,” says Márcio Ponchmann, president of Instituto Lula.
The 10-year old foundation opened in late November a selection process to award a paid research chair with the title “Popular Sovereignty in the Digital Age”.
The chair will be concluded in May with the publication of a book discussing the theme and the experience lived during the 10 weekly, online classes and seminars that Instituto Lula will promote from January 2022. An award equivalent to US$10,000.00 will granted to the winning candidate.
The selection process ends on December 15.
With more and more of our daily lives – from shopping to meeting with relatives to University classes – moving online, the mega-internet corporations such as Facebook, Google and Twitter grow in size, buying up competitors, multiplicate their revenues exponentially, and boost their influence over each one of us.
Their commercial focus and algorithms constructed to follow our most intimate interest in order to sell goods and ideas, is raising questions as to how much independence is left for us to chose who will govern us.
This is just one of the problems that Instituto Lula is trying to solve.
The applicants will be asked submit CVs, class plans and research projects. Applications can be made in English or Spanish. Click on the link and apply now.
Read the official notice below: