oa Epistemicide in het slavernijgeschiedenisbedrijf en de media in Nederland

Epistemicide in the Dutch department of slavery history and the media. An initiative for further research

Drawing from my personal experiences, I will show that epistemicide is difficult to combat despite legislation and human rights declarations. The primary reasons are a lack of will of the dominant group, and flaws in article 7 of the Dutch Constitution. This constitutional article guarantees both freedom of expression and freedom of press, which may involve conflicting interests. Media can use freedom of the press to undermine citizens’ freedom of expression by controlling who writes for them and what knowledge they disseminate, without being held accountable. In a society characterized by structural inequality (racism) dominant media can exclude dissident knowledge, resulting in the restriction of knowledge, misinformation, and the undermining of democracy. This also applies to historians. Historians can do the same, but without the support of the constitution.