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Call for Publications Theme: Epistemic Injustice in Practice Publication: Wagadu: Journal of Transnational Women's and Gender Studies Date: Special Issue (2015) Deadline: 1.3.2015 __________________________________________________ From Franziska Dübgen <[email protected]> The notion of epistemic justice is currently challenging the hegemonic vocabulary of justice that mainly focuses on economic and political aspects of domination. Distributive justice primarily looks at how within the realm of the economy a government shall deliver a fair distribution of goods, whereas theories of justice, following John Rawls, have shifted focus onto procedural and institutional demands of justice. However, both kinds of justice are not able to cope with certain concerns raised by feminist and postcolonial theorists and activists. Even liberals who try to “include” marginalized voices in mainstream discourse tend to lack awareness of epistemic marginalization on the level of representation and stereotyping. In contrast, theories of epistemic justice argue that power is reproduced on a level of knowledge production, language and representation and that it may perpetuate existing asymmetrical power positions in different segments of (global) society. The academic debate on epistemic in/justice was triggered by Miranda Fricker’s groundbreaking monograph (2007) that addresses “testimonial” injustices by which subjects are excluded as agents of knowledge as well as “hermeneutical injustice” as a lack of the adequate grammar to articulate the harm experienced. The theory implicitly draws on the nation state as a context for justice and presupposes its citizens as prime moral agents. Elizabeth Anderson broadened the debate by looking at how not just individuals, but institutions sustain epistemic injustice on a structural level (2012). Furthermore, by means of the notion of “cognitive injustice”, Bonaventura de Sousa Santos prominently discussed the mechanisms of silencing indigenous or subaltern knowledge on a global scale (2007). There is no global justice without cognitive justice, he demands. Finally, José Medina (2013) deals with culpable ignorance and epistemic responsibility by introducing some ethical maxims to promote epistemic justice. This issue invites papers dealing with the following sorts of questions: What are the specific kinds of injustices we are able to challenge under the rubric of “epistemic injustice”? What are remedies to counter these injustices? How do we need to conceptually specify “epistemic justice” in order to grasp the meaning of current feminist social struggles? The special issue will contain an editorial providing an introduction to current philosophical debate on epistemic justice. Contributions are invited to address the following topics amongst others: - Different realms of epistemic (in)justice - Particular case studies of epistemic (in)justice that highlight its working in practice - Gender, race and epistemic injustice - Epistemic injustice intersecting other domains of transnational domination (global economy, political power etc.) - Epistemic injustice in the academy - Remedies for epistemic injustice - How epistemologies of resistance challenge hegemonic knowledges Abstracts (300 words) are due by March 1, 2015, requested full papers by July 30, 2015. The special issue is scheduled for publication by the end of 2015. Potential contributors may email to: [email protected] Guest Editor: Franziska Dübgen, PhD Lichtenberg-Kolleg, University of Kassel, Germany __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
