Subjects
Black Lives Matter movement, epistemic injustice
Abstract
Epistemic injustice provides a powerful perspective for understanding media narratives of the Movement for Black Lives (#BlackLivesMatter). To understand the media coverage, I draw on Foucauldian theories and critical race theory, as well as accounts of hermeneutical and recognition injustice, which show how “truth” emerges as a product of knowledge/power/resistance. Special attention is given to the question of violence: what is violent and what isn’t? Who gets to decide? What are the consequences? Media narratives favor the status quo and delegitimize social movements which challenge it. This is achieved by prioritizing the voices of officials and law enforcement in coverage of protests, particularly protests relating to anti-Black racism, and seldom featuring the voices of protesters. Coverage follows a state narrative, omitting and justifying the state’s use of violence.
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Recommended Citation
De Ferrari, Sofia (2025) "Protests, Epistemic Injustice, and the Movement for Black Lives," PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal: Vol. 18: Iss. 1, Article 2.