President Lula’s speech upon receiving an Honorary Doctorate from Paris 8 University in France

It is with deep joy that I receive the title of Doctor Honoris Causa awarded by Paris 8 University.

It is an honor to be the second Brazilian to receive this distinction, joining the ranks of a great thinker and philosopher, my friend, fellow Workers’ Party member, Marilena Chauí.

Today’s tribute is not only a personal recognition.

It represents a reunion with the values that have shaped my life: social justice, education as a tool for emancipation, and the commitment to those who have always had to fight for their voices and their space.

I have forged my trajectory through the defense of the rights of the most vulnerable.

This University was born from the hope and courage of the French people, in the heat of the streets of 1968.

It was built as a response to the requirements of a youth who dreamt of a more egalitarian world and a more accessible and critical education system, connected with social realities.

It harbored students from all walks of life as a central part of its project.

Paris 8 was a pioneer in opening doors for the children of the working class, for immigrants, and those who did not come from a prestigious family name.

It demonstrated that knowledge is not a privilege — it is a right.

Here, great thinkers such as Foucault, Deleuze, Brazilian social scientist Josué de Castro, and my dear friend Marco Aurélio Garcia helped form a type of critical thinking that does not accept injustice as a destination and is committed to social transformation.

I carry with me the certainty that the role of politics is not to administer inequality, but to face it.

In Brazil—a country that did not establish its first universities until the early 20th century—higher education was always designed for and reserved for the elites.

It took a metalworker without a university degree, elected by popular vote, to begin changing that reality.

I am proud to be the president who has created the largest number of technical and higher education institutions in our country’s history.

Under the Workers’ Party administrations, we consolidated a more open and inclusive model of education.

Together with President Dilma Rousseff, we passed the Affirmative Action Law, which transformed the profile of Brazil’s university graduates.

In consultation with Indigenous communities, we will establish the country’s first Indigenous university by 2026.

This revolution in education is one of the most powerful tools we have to break the cycle of hunger and poverty—a cycle that once again haunted Brazil under my predecessor’s administration.

Hunger, as stated by Josué de Castro, “is the biological expression of social ills”.

Those who go hungry have their existences imprisoned in the pain of the present. They become unable to think about tomorrow.

Lifting Brazil from the hunger map, as we did in 2014, is my administration’s most pressing commitment.

The essence of democracy is to govern for all.

It requires ensuring meaningful popular participation — with organized workers, critical youth, and respected social movements.

In several parts of the world, the far right has resumed its attacks on universities.

Its methods echo those used by the dictatorships that devastated Latin America in the last century:

- To confront teachers and students and suppress critical thinking and diversity;

- To silence science, censor art, and turn classrooms into instruments of domination.

The far right fears education because it understands that this is where conscience is born.

France — which has welcomed so many exiled Brazilian intellectuals — knows that defending universities means protecting science.

In times of disinformation and denialism, knowledge must be protected as a public good.

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the ways we learn, live, and produce.

It brings vast new opportunities — but also significant risks.

The lack of regulation of digital networks serves only the interests of large corporations.

At the BRICS Summit, which Brazil will host next month, we will adopt a Declaration on the Governance of Artificial Intelligence.

The defense of the multilateral system is another example of how solutions to humanity’s dilemmas inevitably pass through the Global South.

Universities also play a decisive role in tackling the climate crisis.

From their lecture halls come the many warnings about the environmental risks that threaten the planet.

From their classrooms will emerge young leaders who will unite science, innovation, and traditional knowledge to chart a course toward a just ecological transition.

Critical thinking also goes hand in hand with the anti-colonial struggle and efforts to combat racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and all forms of discrimination.

Universities and the student movement will continue to serve as voices of intellectual resistance in the face of the horrors committed by all wars.

We cannot remain indifferent to the absurd war in Ukraine or to the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Intolerance and extremism undermine collective efforts to foster dialogue and erode people’s trust in institutions.

The gravity of the moment demands a firm defense of the values that unite humanity: peace, multilateralism, and sustainable development.

Strengthening emancipatory education through academic cooperation is essential.

Every year, thousands of students, researchers, artists, and entrepreneurs move between our countries.

They exchange ideas, build bridges, and sow innovation.

I thank Dean Annick Allaigre and her successor, Arnaud Laimé, for their efforts to deepen the ties between this university and Brazil.

Initiatives such as the dual degree program in History with the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro/UERJ), and the generous welcome extended to our Indigenous doctoral students, are concrete actions that strengthen the spirit of inclusion and collaborative engagement.

Paris 8 University's involvement in the Brazil–France Year 2025 is another example of how this partnership can give rise to academic, scientific, and cultural projects.

My dearest friends,

I thank Paris 8 University once again for the tribute and the warm welcome they have extended to us.

May today be another seed sown to strengthen the human ties between France and Brazil, and to inspire new generations to dream, question, and take action.

May we continue to honor the legacy of Brazilian master Paulo Freire by making education a practice of freedom, dialogue a method, and critical thinking a tool for emancipation.

Only knowledge can break the chains of inequality and build more just societies.

Let us celebrate Paris 8 University!

Let us celebrate education as a tool for transformation!

Thank you very much.