CFP: Critical Political Epistemology

The Professorship for Epistemology & Theory of Science (University of Freiburg), in collaboration with the Critical Political Epistemology Network (CPEN), are inviting abstract submissions for an international conference on Critical Political Epistemology.

Questions about the political and social dimensions of knowledge production have been ubiquitous throughout the history of philosophy. In recent years, they have regained prominence under the label of “political epistemology.” Most recently, much of the work explicitly framed as political epistemology has emerged from analytic philosophy, with the underlying assumption that contemporary political issues can be reduced to analytic questions regarding the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge. This literature often failedto engage appropriately with feminist epistemology and philosophy of science, critical theory, de-colonial/post-colonial theory, and Foucauldian approaches – traditions that have long explored political-epistemological questions from diverse and influential perspectives. This conference aims to recentre these approaches within contemporary debates in political epistemology. We explicitly invite work that explores political epistemology from an empirically-grounded inter- and transdisciplinary perspective, engaging with critical knowledge projects that question arbitrary hierarchies and work towards liberatory epistemological theories, epistemic practices and systems. We encourage scholars whose work centres perspectives that are under-represented on the basis of sex/gender (including trans and intersex status), racialisation, migrant background, class, sexuality, religion, disability, and chronic illness to apply. 

We invite contributions that speak, but are not limited to, one or more of the following topics:

• Epistemic Injustice (Distributive or Discriminatory) and Epistemic Oppression
• Ideology, Propaganda, and Epistemology of Ignorance
• Epistemic (Dis)Trust Epistemic Agents, Epistemic Agency and Epistemic Authority
• Sources and Sites of Knowledge Production
• Political Epistemology of Large Language Models (LLMs)
• Activism, Epistemic Resistance, and Counter-Knowledges

Confirmed keynote speakers include:

• Amandine Catala (University of Québec at Montréal)
• Nadja El Kassar (University of Lucerne)
• Deborah Mühlebach (Free University of Berlin)
• Just Serrano-Zamora (University of Barcelona)

How to apply:

• Please send abstracts (in English) suitable for a 25-minute presentation of no more than 700 words to [email protected] by April 13, 2026.
• Abstracts can be submitted in PDF or Word format.
• Please ensure that there is no identifying information in your abstract. In the body of your email include your name, email address for correspondence, and institutional affiliation (if applicable).

Limited funds for travel and accommodation are available to those without institutional affiliation/coverage. If you are in need of such funds, please indicate this in your email, including the approximate amount in EUR. This will not influence the acceptance of your proposal in any way. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out during the first half of May.

If you have any questions, please send an email to:
[email protected] 

The Professorship for Epistemology & Theory of Science (University of Freiburg): https://uni-freiburg.de/ucf/college/ets/ 

Critical Political Epistemology Network (CPEN): https://cpenetwork.wixstudio.com/home