2026/07/06 by Sabina Leonelli · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies #Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics #Race, Genetics, and Society
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/02691728.2026.2682149
This paper discusses three forms of structural injustice associated with disparities in the resources available to researchers, and the opportunity researchers have to pursue their scientific goals. These are: (1) resource injustice; (2) focus injustice; and (3) labour injustice. I argue that such structural injustice has significant epistemic implications, resulting in: shifts in research content; the exclusion of substantive portions of scientific community from contributing to knowledge production to the best of their abilities; the exclusion of specific methods and data sources from global scientific discourse, on grounds other than scientific quality and relevance; a loss of quality and reliability in processes and outcomes of inquiry; and the inability to implement openness and related forms of constructive scrutiny. To exemplify these forms of injustice and their epistemic implications, I discuss everyday challenges within life science sites in Italy, Ghana and Greece, as documented through ethnographic research. I conclude that structural injustice permeates the institutional and material conditions for the acquisition and evaluation of knowledge in many research locations around the globe, with damaging implications for epistemic practices; and that this prompts a reconceptualisation of what openness in research may mean and how this concept may be better implemented.