Doing epistemic justice in sustainable development: Applying the philosophical concept of epistemic injustice to the real world

Originally conceptualized by the philosopher, Miranda Fricker, epistemic injustice-unfair treatment of individuals and groups in knowledge-related and communicative practices-is increasingly being employed to delineate individual and collective injustice in healthcare, information sciences, education and sustainable development. Embedded in many other forms of social injustice and inequality, epistemic injustice is a particularly serious problem for sustainable development, undermining the global community's ability to deal with 'wicked' problems. Building on the more conceptually developed, philosophical framework of epistemic injustice and recent research from other fields, this article develops a holistic action-oriented framework of epistemic justice, namely fair treatment in knowledge-related and communicative practices, for sustainable development and beyond. It also adds to the current framework of individual and collective injustice by including a range of new insights on structural and systemic epistemic injustice, such as linguistic injustice and epistemicide.

Automated summary

Originally proposed by philosopher Miranda Fricker, epistemic injustice refers to the unfair treatment of individuals and groups in knowledge-related and communicative practices, and is increasingly used to highlight individual and collective injustices in healthcare, information science, education, and sustainable development. Epistemic injustice is intertwined with other forms of social injustice and inequality, posing a significant challenge to sustainable development by undermining the global community's ability to address complex problems. This article builds upon the existing philosophical framework of epistemic injustice and integrates recent research from various fields to develop an action-oriented framework of epistemic justice, emphasizing fair treatment in knowledge-related and communicative practices. The article also expands the current understanding of individual and collective injustice by exploring structural and systemic forms of epistemic injustice, including linguistic injustice and epistemicide.