Centering Epistemic Injustice: Epistemic Labor, Willful Ignorance, and Knowing Across Hermeneutical Divides

Centering Epistemic Injustice explores the relationship between dominant knowing and marginalized knowing, asking if social power makes it impossible for dominant knowers to know and "hear well" across hermeneutical divides. It also examines the strategies that marginalized knowers use to circumvent epistemic harms.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 162 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2023
Publisher: Lexington Books

Centering Epistemic Injustice: Epistemic Labor, Willful Ignorance, and Knowing Across Hermeneutical Divides by Kamili Posey explores the experiences and perspectives of socially marginalized knowers in the context of epistemic injustice. The book challenges the predominant account of testimonial injustice proposed by Miranda Fricker, arguing that it goes beyond the epistemic harms inflicted by dominant knowers on marginalized knowers and includes the strategies employed by marginalized knowers to navigate and resist these harms. By centering the experiences and perspectives of marginalized knowers, the book expands our understanding of epistemic injustice and highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing the ways in which dominant knowers engage and resist in hostile epistemic environments.

The first part of the book examines Fricker's concept of testimonial injustice, which focuses on the epistemic harms perpetrated by dominant knowers against marginalized knowers. Posey argues that testimonial injustice is not merely about the epistemic harms themselves but also about the strategies that marginalized knowers use to circumvent those harms. These strategies include the use of alternative epistemic communities, the development of epistemic humility, and the cultivation of epistemic resilience. By centering the experiences and perspectives of marginalized knowers, the book challenges the notion that epistemic injustice is solely a problem of epistemic harm and recognizes the importance of addressing the social and political factors that contribute to epistemic injustice.

The second part of the book examines Fricker's concept of hermeneutical injustice, which is rooted in hermeneutical marginalization. Posey argues that hermeneutical injustice occurs when dominant knowers use their power to shape collective resources and ways of meaning-making in ways that exclude or marginalize marginalized knowers. This can lead to a situation where dominant knowers are unable to understand and "hear well" across hermeneutical divides. By exploring the relationship between dominant knowing and marginalized knowing, the book asks whether social power makes it impossible for dominant knowers to know and "hear well" across hermeneutical divides.

The book also asks whether hermeneutical divides are real divides in understanding and how dominant knowers might come to be better knowers in the pursuit of a more thoroughgoing epistemic justice. Posey argues that hermeneutical divides are real divides in understanding and that dominant knowers can come to be better knowers by engaging in a process of self-reflection and self-critique. This involves recognizing the ways in which dominant knowers have been complicit in epistemic injustice and working to address these issues.

Overall, Centering Epistemic Injustice is a thought-provoking and important book that challenges our understanding of epistemic injustice and the role of dominant knowers in creating and perpetuating it. By centering the experiences and perspectives of marginalized knowers, the book offers a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of epistemic injustice and provides valuable insights into how we can work towards a more just and equitable epistemic society.

Weight: 454g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781498572590