“It is About Solidarity. It is About Being Part of a Community, However Diverse That Community May Be”.

Interview With Nico Carpentier.

Authors

  • Dr. Fernando Oliveira Paulino Universidad de Brasilia
  • Nico Carpentier Charles University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55738/journal.v14i1p.308-333

Abstract

This interview with Nico Carpentier explores the role of academic cooperation, international scholarly associations, and transnational research networks in shaping the field of communication studies. Drawing on his experiences with organizations such as ECREA, IAMCR, and collaborative initiatives with ALAIC, Carpentier reflects on the importance of dialogue, solidarity, multilingualism, and democratic academic cultures in the production and circulation of knowledge. The conversation addresses challenges facing global scholarship, including academic precarity, epistemic inequalities, linguistic hierarchies, nationalism, and threats to academic freedom. It also highlights the value of plural epistemologies, multimodal forms of scholarly communication, and collaborative practices that bridge regions, traditions, and institutions. Ultimately, the interview argues that academic cooperation is not merely an organizational strategy but a fundamental condition for critical, inclusive, and socially engaged knowledge production in a rapidly changing world.

Author Biographies

Dr. Fernando Oliveira Paulino, Universidad de Brasilia

Fernando Oliveira Paulino is professor at the University of Brasilia (UnB), Brazil, journalist, Master Degree (2003) and PhD in Communication (2008), CNPq and UNESP Researcher, president of the Latin American Association of Communication Researchers (ALAIC, 2022-2026), member of the World Journalism Education Council´s Steering Committee (2025-2028) and former president of the Brazilian Federation of Scientific and Academic Associations (2020-2022). Member and coordinator of the "Information Integrity in Brazil and Germany: Regulation, Policies and Media Education (CAPES/DAAD), "Communication Policies Lab" (LaPCom) and "Community Communication Project". Current Co-Chair of the "Communication, Social Justice and Democracy" Working Group (WG), and former Co-Chair of "Ethics of Society & Ethics of Communication" WG, at the International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). He is member of the MIL Alliance, Chapter Latin America, and the Chair "Public Communication for Social Justice, Human Rights and Territorial Development" (UNESCO). He was also visiting professor at the TU Dortmund, Germany (2020-2021), visiting researcher at the George Washington University, USA (2022), and one of the founders of the Brazilian National Network of the Media Watchers (RENOI, since 2005) and the Forum for the Right to Access Public Information (since 2003). He was one of the initiators and members of the ALAIC–ECREA Task Force, in 2006, he met Nico Carpentier during the Summer School promoted by ECREA. Shortly thereafter, he co-founded the ALAIC-ECREA task force, promoting international events on academic dialogue and cooperation since 2011, and helped establish the ALAIC Summer School in 2013 and the World Summer School in 2026.

Nico Carpentier, Charles University

Nico Carpentier is Extraordinary Professor at the Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic). Before, he held positions at Uppsala University (Sweden) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB – Free University of Brussels, Belgium). Currently, he is also a visiting professor at Tallinn University (Estonia). Throughout his academic career, he has played a leading role in several international scholarly associations. He served as Treasurer of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) from 2005 to 2012 and as ECREA Vice-President from 2008 to 2012. Within the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), he served as Chair of the Audience Section from 2010 to 2012, as Treasurer from 2012 to 2016, and as Chair of the Participatory Communication Research Section from 2016 to 2020. He was elected President of the Association for the 2020–2024 term, becoming one of the most prominent international leaders in the field of media and communication research. Carpentier has also been actively involved in fostering international academic cooperation beyond formal associations. He was one of the initiators and members of the ALAIC–ECREA Task Force, a collaborative initiative aimed at strengthening dialogue, joint research, and institutional cooperation between the Latin American and European communication research communities. In addition to his academic and institutional activities, he is the director of the non-governmental organisation Squidge, contributing to projects that connect academic research, civic engagement, democratic participation, and creative interventions in public spaces.

His research focuses on participation, democracy, discourse theory, media studies, conflict studies, community media, communication rights, and the relationships between discourse and materiality. He is internationally recognised for his contributions to participation studies and critical media theory.

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Published

2026-07-14

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026): Academic and Scientific Cooperation in Communication: Dialogue, Reciprocity, and Situated Knowledge

Section

Interviews