Understanding the Epistemic Domain in Social Work to Foster Social Justice

Social justice is a core value of social work. How to articulate and demonstrate its embodiment in social work practice, education, and research has been an ongoing focus and, at times, a struggle within the field. Although epistemic justice is fundamental to many types of justice – including social justice – this important concept has received limited attention in our profession. Aiming to center discussion on the epistemic domain within the social work profession to foster social justice, this chapter introduces epistemic injustice scholarship and its precursors; it outlines why the epistemic domain matters for social work practice, education, and research, and especially “why now?” given the rise of authoritarian politics and attacks on social justice both within and outside the social work profession. I also explain why focusing on injustice (rather than merely fostering justice ) matters for advancing social justice. This chapter ends by discussing how we, as social work practitioners, educators, and researchers, can embody epistemic resistance to epistemic injustice by developing testimonial sensibilities and expanding epistemic resources for the people we serve.