Epistemic capabilities and epistemic injustice: what's the role for higher education in fostering epistemic contributions of marginalized knowledge producers

Abstract

This keynote explores the critical issue of knowledge production in universities in two ways: firstly, focusing on how research and teaching could expand capabilities of people not traditionally endorsed as producers of scientific discourse and truth. Secondly, discussing how different kind of epistemic injustice could limit and even block the epistemic capabilities of those actors. For this, we will follow, mainly, the contributions of scholars in the epistemic injustice debate as Miranda Fricker and José Medina. The epistemic capabilities and epistemic injustice nexus will be explored in two empirical cases: the first one is an experience developed in Lagos (Nigeria) using participatory video. The second one is the program Peace and Region, conducted at Universidad de Ibagué (in Colombia), aimed to articulate action frameworks for peace, development, region, territory, and citizenship in local communities through a service learning pedagogical strategy for last year undergraduate students.