In person icon Navigating Epistemic Injustice: Intersectionality, Power Dynamics, and Feminist Voices

Abstract

Epistemic injustice, defined as the “distributive unfairness in respect to epistemic goods such as information or education”, remains a pervasive issue in contemporary society. This framework encompasses intersecting advantages related to race, sex, ethnicity, religion, and age. The roots of this injustice run deep, exemplified by cases like Anitta Hill’s testimony on sexual harassment, where scepticism and hostility met her narrative before an all-white-male jury over three decades ago. Despite the intense debates that followed Hill’s case, shedding light on the intricate intersections of gender, race, and power dynamics, our society continues to grapple with the persistence of these issues. This panel seeks to rekindle the discourse initiated by Black feminist legal theorist Kimberly Crenshaw, who, in the early stages, argued for an intersectional approach that transcends race-only and gender-only perspectives. More than three decades have elapsed since Anitta Hill’s courageous testimony, and yet, we find ourselves confronted with similar challenges in power structures, knowledge production, and the credibility ascribed to marginalized communities. Our panel aims to revisit and expand upon Crenshaw’s initial observations, delving into the multifaceted dimensions of epistemic injustice. In this panel, we invite papers both reflecting on the historical examples but also the contemporary manifestations of epistemic injustices, where the progress has been made or if we are still grappling with persistent issues. We seek to investigate how power dynamics influence knowledge production and disseminating, focusing on whose narratives are validated and whose are dismissed.

Title	Details
Decolonial feminisms and epistemic injustice – thinking about, with, and beyond new materialisms and posthumanism	View Paper Details
Reshaping the Canvas: Feminist Art, Political Agency, and Epistemic Transformation	View Paper Details
Epistemic Gender Gap: A Natural Experiment	View Paper Details
Constructing Feminist Epistemic Justice by Deconstructing Eurocentrism in the EU’s Gender Equality Regime and Europeanisation Mechanisms	View Paper Details