About the lecture
Communication is often misinterpreted as being technology, media or simply information. However, it is fundamentally a social process – a relationship and a dynamic between people.
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).
About the lecturer
With a background in communication for social change, critical theory and liberating pedagogy, Professor Tufte’s research focuses on the dynamic interplay between communication and social change.
He has worked within research, teaching, curricular development and consultancy in over 30 countries, and is a member of Academia Europaea (2019-) and Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa (2013-).
As a Danish cultural sociologist and with a PhD in media and communication, he worked for five years in International Development, including two years with UNDP in Asuncion, Paraguay, before entering academia in 1996.
Following eight years at the University of Copenhagen, he joined Roskilde University as a Professor of Communication in 2004, moving to the University of Leicester’s School of Media, Communication and Sociology in 2016 as a Professor and Research Director.
Thomas joined Loughborough University London in 2018. He led the Institute for Media and Creative Industries for six years before serving as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation (2024-26).
Having secured a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant, the University’s first successful applicant, he is Principal Investigator of Reimagining Activism, Communication and Trajectories of Participation in the Global South (REACT, 2026-31). This project is exploring youth aspirations, citizen engagement and social change in 20 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. r
For further information on this lecture, please contact the Events team.
