Approaches to Epistemic Justice

The word ‘epistemology’ tends to be little used by English speakers. This chapter argues that consideration of epistemology, or ways of knowing, is fundamental to our understanding of inclusion and exclusion in the social world. It touches upon a central core of our shared humanity. It is therefore fundamental to social justice and should be a central focus of universities and academics as knowledge workers. This chapter considers the idea of epistemic justice from the literatures, drawing on two main knowledge traditions: first, the virtue ethics of Miranda Fricker, who identifies how people can experience injustice in their capacity as knowers and, second, the work on ‘cognitive justice’ from post- and de-colonial theorists.