On the entanglement of epistemic violence and affective injustice in higher education: a conceptual analysis

This conceptual paper reflects on the nature of “epistemic violence” in relation to the notion of “affective injustice” and considers the theoretical and practical implications for knowledge production and legitimation in higher education. The questions driving the analysis are the following: How can knowledge production and legitimation in higher education be reconceptualized in terms of “epistemic violence” and “affective injustice”? What is the added value of this analysis? And, how can research, teaching, and publishing practices be (re)constructed to support a more inclusive and just approach in higher education? The paper highlights two fundamental insights. First, it suggests that theorizing the entanglement between epistemic and affective violence helps scholars explore how higher education institutions live with affective injustice. Second, it proposes that exploring mechanisms of challenging this entanglement in higher education can create spaces for new practices of academic knowledge production and legitimation that are more inclusive and just.