Oppressive epistemic dilemmas1

The chapter argues that the double bind involved in certain epistemically oppressive situations also involves an epistemic dilemma. In particular, it is argued that in epistemically exploitative situations—situations in which the marginalized are compelled to explain the nature of their oppression—the marginalized person can only comply with one of two epistemic norms while violating the other. Surprisingly, this has gone unnoticed by both scholars of epistemic exploitation and of epistemic dilemmas. Noticing it will benefit both bodies of scholarship: it will bring new insights about the distinctively epistemic dimensions of the oppression involved in these situations, while gaining social relevance for the literature on epistemic dilemmas.