<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>For liberalism, values such as respect, reciprocity, and tolerance should frame cultural encounters in multicultural societies. However, it is easy to disregard that power differences and political domination also influence the cultural sphere and the relations between cultural groups. In this essay, I focus on some challenges for cultural pluralism. In relation to Indian political theorist Rajeev Bhargava, I discuss the meaning of cultural domination and epistemic injustice and their historical and moral implications. Bhargava argued that as a consequence of colonialism, “indigenous cultures” were inferiorized, marginalized, and anonymized. Although cultures are often changing due to external influences, I argue that epistemic injustice implies that a culture is forced to subjection, disrespected, and considered as inferior and that it threatens the dominated people’s epistemic framework, collective identity, and existential security. Finally, I refer to John Rawls’s theory of political liberalism as a constructive approach to avoid parochialism and Western cultural domination.</p></abstract>

For liberalism, values such as respect, reciprocity, and tolerance should frame cultural encounters in multicultural societies. However, it is easy to disregard that power differences and political domination also influence the cultural sphere and the relations between cultural groups. In this essay, I focus on some challenges for cultural pluralism. In relation to Indian political theorist Rajeev Bhargava, I discuss the meaning of cultural domination and epistemic injustice and their historical and moral implications. Bhargava argued that as a consequence of colonialism, “indigenous cultures” were inferiorized, marginalized, and anonymized. Although cultures are often changing due to external influences, I argue that epistemic injustice implies that a culture is forced to subjection, disrespected, and considered as inferior and that it threatens the dominated people’s epistemic framework, collective identity, and existential security. Finally, I refer to John Rawls’s theory of political liberalism as a constructive approach to avoid parochialism and Western cultural domination.

Cultural Pluralism and Epistemic Injustice

Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Cultural Pluralism and Epistemic Injustice"}

For liberalism, values such as respect, reciprocity, and tolerance should frame cultural encounters in multicultural societies. However, it is easy to...

Cultural Pluralism and Epistemic Injustice

Published Online: Aug 27, 2019

Page range: 152 - 163

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jnmlp-2019-0008

Keywords
cultural pluralism, epistemic injustice, liberalism, colonialism, historical justice, globalization, Rajeev Bhargava, John Rawls

© 2019 Göran Collste, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Cultural Pluralism and Epistemic Injustice

Published Online: Aug 27, 2019

Page range: 152 - 163

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jnmlp-2019-0008

Keywordscultural pluralism, epistemic injustice, liberalism, colonialism, historical justice, globalization, Rajeev Bhargava, John Rawls

© 2019 Göran Collste, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
cultural pluralism, epistemic injustice, liberalism, colonialism, historical justice, globalization, Rajeev Bhargava, John Rawls