Section: Conversations on Epistemic Injustice

Section Editor: Veli Mitova, Professor and Director of the African Centre of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, University of Johannesburg 

What Are Sections?

Sections are curated clusters of thematically related content that accrue on an ongoing basis for a time frame of three or more years. Section editors supervise the publication of one to three submissions per year. The goal of a section is to generate dialogue and produce a collection of scholarship on a particular topic—much like a special issue—but to extend the production of that scholarship over several years, allowing contributors more time to respond to and build on the work of other scholars in the section. In short, a section is like a special issue that grows progressively over a period of time.

Section Description

This section contributes to the conversation in ethics and epistemology about epistemic injustice, which Miranda Fricker defines as “a wrong done to someone specifically in their capacity as a knower.” Philosophers working on decolonization have taken up the concept of epistemic injustice to analyze the marginalization and delegitimization of knowledge systems outside of the dominant mainstream knowledge economy of the Global North and to argue that epistemic justice requires the recentring of these marginalized knowledge systems to dismantle oppressive power structures upheld through epistemic supremacy.

The thought pieces in this section may explore different strands of epistemic injustice (e.g., testimonial, hermeneutic); ideas about epistemic authority, epistemic agency, or epistemic risk; the relationship of epistemic injustice to epistemic decolonization and contributory injustice; the necessity of epistemic justice for material, social, and political empowerment; and the importance of situating conversations about epistemic injustice in particular geo-sociopolitical locations. This section aims to bring vital conversations about epistemic injustice happening in social epistemology and ethics to a multidisciplinary audience.  

KULA welcomes submissions in diverse formats. Contributions in this section may include textual articles or reflections and multimodal outputs including, but not limited to, photo essays, video essays, podcasts, graphic novels, and other forms of visual art works and audio and/or video content. Submissions should be approximately 2,500–3,000 words or 10–12 double-spaced pages (excluding abstract, notes, and references) or 20–25 minutes.

Open submissions accepted: No.

Submission Instructions 

1. Create a user account on the KULA website. If you have an ORCID iD, you can connect your ORCID iD to your user account.
2. Go to the submission wizard to submit your work.
   • Choose the relevant section for your submission (e.g., research article, project report, etc.).
   • Choose the category “Conversations on Epistemic Injustice” for your submission. (Please note that OJS uses the term section differently than we do; section in OJS is equivalent to article type, while category refers to how we use section.)
   • Read and acknowledge submission requirements.
   • If applicable, add any additional information for the section editor in the “Comments for the Editor” box.
   • Acknowledge copyright statement.
   • Click “Save and continue.”
   • Upload your submission.
   • Enter the metadata for your submission, including an abstract, keywords, etc.
   • Review your submission and submit.

Please see the KULA submissions page for more detail about submission requirements.

If you have any questions about the submission process, please reach out to Co-Editor-in-Chief Samantha MacFarlane at kulajournal@uvic.ca.