Afrofuturism and knowledge production in participatory and deliberative spaces

by Dayo Eseonu

A widely accepted rationale for public participation in public policy and administration, whether for normative or instrumental reasons, is accessing knowledge from the lived experiences of those taking part in participation initiatives. From a standpoint epistemology position, the argument is that racially minoritised (RM) groups have a better grasp of particular forms of knowledge because their life experiences are shaped by racial structures in society. This is a position I agree with however I have become increasingly uncomfortable with how these forms of knowledge are accessed in participatory and deliberative spaces. Good designs of these spaces tend to pay attention to power dynamics and seek to avoid hierarchies of knowledge when working with RM groups. However, the argument I am putting forward is that such designs either do not pay attention or give enough consideration to the ethics of care. Here, I refer to the ethics of care as seeking ways to avoid epistemic exploitation and epistemic injustice in participatory and deliberative spaces with RM groups.

Kinouani speaks of epistemic exploitation as instances where RM groups are at risk of sharing their experiential knowledge without benefitting from the knowledge they share, directly or indirectly. This is especially true in spaces which are aimed at understanding root causes of inequalities experienced by RM groups. Epistemic exploitation can contribute to invoking feelings of powerlessness where there the discussions are of a deterministic nature – an exclusive focus on lack of access to wealth, resources and opportunities without also engaging RM groups in discussions of how racial equity can be achieved.

Fricker talks about two types of epistemic injustices: testimonial and hermeneutical. Testimonial injustice occurs when the experiential knowledge of RM groups is called into question in participatory and deliberative spaces. Hermeneutical injustice occurs when there is a lack of interpretive resources to make sense of RM groups’ experiential knowledge. Ethnocentrism and a “shared reality bias are some examples of structural causes of epistemic injustices.  Ethnocentrism is a bias favouring groups to which one belongs, so RM groups are not granted credibility or respectability status. A ‘shared reality bias’ means that members of the dominant group, the white majority, view their experience as the norm so experiences different to this norm are not understood or misunderstood.

As part of my doctoral research methodology, I used participatory and deliberative spaces that included RM young people in exploring issues of racial inequality. This experience unearthed for me how epistemic exploitation and injustice can occur where there is no due regard to the ethics of care. I began to reflect on how ethics of care can be implemented in knowledge production with RM groups in this context. In the summer of 2019, I attended a symposium, Anticipating Black Futures event hosted at Birmingham City University where I came across Afrofuturism. Afrofuturism draws our attention to historical patterns of racial inequalities, to how Black people are discussed in policymaking spaces, the futures that are imagined for Black people by those ‘in-the-room’ and the roles and responsibilities of policy to invest in Black people’s futures. Afrofuturism centres Black people’s subjectivities and I am arguing that knowledge production via Afrofuturism can reduce the risk of epistemic exploitation and injustice I experienced first-hand how Black scholars accessed, curated and shared Black communities’ knowledge. Consequently, this experience has influenced my thinking on knowledge production in participatory and deliberative spaces which seek to contribute knowledge on how to address racial inequalities. Furthermore, Pillow’s application of Afrofuturism to racial inequalities in policymaking provides a blueprint for how Afrofuturism can be applied to public policy and management.

In this blog, I put forward two conjectures on how using Afrofuturism for knowledge production supports the ethics of care. Afrofuturism encourages Black people to reimagine, new futures for themselves. The first conjecture on the ethics of care in knowledge production is that Afrofuturism can reduce the risk of epistemic exploitation. The ways in which knowledge on inequalities is generated through Afrofuturism leaves room for Black people to feel empowered about their futures despite the realities of the present. Afrofuturism allows us to think of new possibilities and introduce empirical evidence and imagined possibilities into policymaking spaces. The ideal scenario is that the knowledge produced influences policymaking but as a minimum, the process engages with individuals’ subjectivities in a way that strengthens a sense of self. The second conjecture on the ethics of care in knowledge production is that Afrofuturism can provide the means through which others can make sense of Black experiential knowledge. In practical terms, Afrofuturism supports the use of aesthetics such as art, storytelling, film, music to produce knowledge about present day inequalities and the futures Black people want to see.

I got the opportunity to test these conjectures on using Afrofuturism for knowledge production through a Lankelly Chase funded project. An Afrofuturist practitioner designed two half-day workshops to explore racial inequalities with Black young people. We ran these workshops with about 30 Black young people aged between 8 – 18 in London, Birmingham and Manchester. While the project is yet to use the knowledge produced in policymaking spaces, feedback from the young people is that it was beneficial for them to creatively share their experiences with a focus on what they would like to change about their experiences.

Here a young person creates a comic to share their experience of being ‘othered’ at school.

Here a young person uses a 3D image to imagine herself as a super hero with electric hair buns to zap racism.

Here a young person uses a drawing to picture herself as a queen
who can be confident to be anything she wants to be.

The next phase of this project is to pilot the use of the knowledge produced through Afrofuturism in policymaking spaces. This phase will involve a programme that will run in 2022 with policymakers and public service practitioners who are interested in how to achieve racially equitable public services. Please register your interest for the programme here.

Dayo Eseonu completed a PhD in Politics at the University of Manchester where she used critical theories such as critical race theory to examine racial equity in UK public services delivery. Her research continues to critically examine racial equity in public services delivery. She works as a Principal Researcher at the Young Foundation.