Reconfiguring Epistemic Reparations Through a Decolonial Lens

Abstract

This paper reconfigures epistemic reparations through a decolonial lens. Shifting away from reparations as restoring the victim’s epistemic standing to contribute to a “common pool of knowledge,” we focus on epistemic sovereignty. In so doing, we explore the epistemic violence of coloniality identifying two resulting epistemic harms: epistemic jurisdiction-harm and epistemic capability-harm. To address these harms, we propose an intervention consisting of three reparative moves: (1) the decolonizing of testimonial spaces, (2) the right to not be known, and (3) an expanded notion of the right to return. We conclude by hinting at our broader project of going beyond reparations and toward reclamation.