A Relationship Focused Approach to Epistemic Injustice in Global Development Theory and Practice

Miranda Fricker’s theory of epistemic injustice articulates the connections between ethics and epistemology that come to light in the harms caused when someone is wronged in their capacities as a knower. Although Fricker’s account has provided an important contribution to the academic literature, its many flaws mean that a new approach to epistemic injustice is needed. This new account will focus more on structures of society, context, and relationships to better understand how epistemic injustices happen. This new approach will then be applied to the broad context of global development, and to the specific case study of Cuba’s education and health care policies. The goal of this project is to show that epistemic injustice interferes with effective and ethical global development work aimed at improving the well-being of people, and how taking a more structural, contextual, and relational approach will mitigate the harms of epistemic injustice.