Beyond Book Bans: Epistemicide

“I learned a new word I thought you’d like,” my boss says at our most recent meeting, “Epistemicide.” It’s not that she thought I would like epistemicide itself. Rather, she thought I might like to have a word for the “the devaluing, silencing, killing, or annihilation of knowledge.” A word I could search.

This search led me to Dr. Beth Patin’s lecture “The Ethics of Epistemic Justice: Addressing Epistemicide through Social Justice in Library and Information Sciences.” After watching Patin’s lecture, I can appreciate how poetic the moment with my boss was. “Giving things language” is one form of epistemic justice, which Patin offers as the counter to epistemicide. Patin notes that this language allows us “to discuss it, understand it, study it.”

Until the conversation with my boss, “censorship” and “freedom of information” were the only words I had to describe challenges to my work around inclusive collections. However, these terms imply that the information exists and that it is just a matter of access to the information. For example: when I set out to read every book challenged in my Florida school district, I was able to find copies of these books elsewhere (shoutout to my public library!).

Curricular (In)justice

But, this week, amidst the removal of information on—among others—Jackie Robinson from the Department of Defense’s website, terms like “censorship” and “freedom of information” seem to fall short. If and when such information is destroyed, what is the likelihood the information exists elsewhere? (In response to the backlash, the Department of Defense restored some of this information, including Robinson’s.)

Patin refers to this form of epistemicide as “curricular injustice,” or when resources are not available and/or “used to suppress and eliminate the creation of rival, alternative knowledges.” Beyond developing inclusive collections, Patin sees local community archives as a means of correcting curricular injustice. This makes those of us engaged in library service to children well positioned to work alongside our communities to develop inclusive collections for the children we serve now and for generations to come.

To learn more about epistemicide, see the links throughout this post. As paywalls are an example of participatory epistemic injustice, I made every effort to link to open access sources.

What actions do you take to provide epistemically just library service to children? Drop a line in the comments or at ktaksier@ufl.edu.

This blog post relates to ALSC Core Competency IV: Collection Knowledge and Management.

The post Beyond Book Bans: Epistemicide appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 “I learned a new word I thought you’d like,” my boss says at our most recent meeting, “Epistemicide.” It’s not that she thought I would like epistemicide itself. Rather, she thought I might like to have a word for the “the devaluing, silencing, killing, or annihilation of knowledge.” A word I could search. This search led me to Dr. Beth Patin’s lecture “The Ethics of Epistemic Justice: Addressing Epistemicide through Social Justice in Library and Information Sciences.” After watching Patin’s lecture, I can appreciate how poetic the moment with my boss was. “Giving things language” is one form of epistemic justice, which Patin offers as the counter to epistemicide. Patin notes that this language allows us “to discuss it, understand it, study it.” Until the conversation with my boss, “censorship” and “freedom of information” were the only words I had to describe challenges to my work around inclusive collections. However, these terms imply that…
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