The Dialogues of Knowledge is a popular education modality that was developed within the Critical Perspective on Democracy + Media Lab initiative at the Latinx Research Center in the Spring of 2023. Based in Mayan dialectics, the Dialogues of Knowledge are sacred talking circles with simple and yet specific protocols that create space for genuine communication in an accessible and replicable format. In Guatemala, the Mayan dialectics have become a centerpiece of democratizing praxis as formally recognized by the government of Bernardo Arévalo. With the support of the Global Commons, the Democracy + Media Lab will produce a focused set of neighborhood Dialogues accompanied by a digital dossier of video and visual materials that will take place in four locations of the greater Bay Area in order to reimagine a decolonized methodology for democracy across borders and language difference. In formal Dialogue circles, the topics of these dialogues will include immigrant safety networks, confronting military spending and technologies, and generating trust protocols for media and newspaper sources with language justice translations in Spanish, English, and Mayan languages over the next academic year.

This project seeks to generate an alternative methodology for participatory democracy generated by those most affected by inequities to actively engage in shaping policies and solutions. What makes the Dialogues of Knowledge special is that they emphasize experiential frameworks as living talking and listening circles whereby many communities have been able to effectively scale these conversations through different spaces and at all levels of government. This team will produce media and Dialogue circle events including one workshop in English providing participants with an in-depth understanding of methodology and facilitation techniques. Film and audio record the dialogue circles and workshop to document the process and outcomes of the Dialogues of Knowledge methodology. Last, the team will develop a facilitation kit based on experiences and lessons to share with communities.