Inclusive Knowledge Commons: MIT Open Scholarship, UNESCO Open Science, the UN SDGs, and Chattampi Swamikal’s Vision in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

This paper examines debates on open access and open science through a comparative historical lens, bringing into dialogue MIT’s Open Scholarship framework, UNESCO’s Open Science agenda aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the thought and practice of Chattampi
Swamikal (1853–1924), a central figure of the Kerala Renaissance. While early discussions of open scholarship focused on technical, institutional, and economic challenges within digital research systems, recent discourse foregrounds inclusivity, linguistic diversity, community engagement, and knowledge as a global public good. The paper argues that these ethical commitments have a clear historical antecedent
in Swamikal’s late nineteenth-century conception of knowledge as a social responsibility. Drawing on his writings and pedagogical initiatives—especially his advocacy of vernacular education, critique of caste-based monopolies over learning, and commitment to public dissemination—the study interprets contemporary
open access and open science as institutional continuations of an earlier emancipatory epistemology. On this basis, the paper proposes policy directions for an inclusive knowledge commons integrating infrastructure, governance, incentives, linguistic accessibility, and ethical engagement. It concludes that sustainable and
equitable open access requires not only technological and policy reforms, but an ethical reorientation toward knowledge as a shared civilizational trust. By situating open knowledge within a longer ethical genealogy, the paper reframes it as a historically grounded project rather than a purely digital or institutional innovation.