It is within these dynamics and relationships that social change processes occur, and social justice can be enhanced.  

Drawing on his previous research with youth groups, women, immigrants and a variety of civil society driven organisations and movements from East and Southern Africa, Latin America and Europe, Professor Tufte’s lecture will reflect upon why, where and how citizens engage in social change-making, the role of communication, and what the constraints for citizen engagement are.  

At the heart of this reflection lies a critique of the dominant paradigm of communication and social change, and an argument to embed communication scholarship far deeper in interdisciplinary frameworks, and to recognise epistemic freedom and diversity in knowledge production.  

Re-centering communication as relational and epistemically plural points to a socially embedded, inclusive social science with implications for research practice, pedagogy and policy engagement. 

During his Inaugural Lecture, Professor Tufte will also introduce his new research project, Reimagining Activism, Communication and Trajectories of Participation in the Global South (REACT, 2026-31).