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This paper reorients the problematic of political epistemology to put power at the centre of analysis, through an analysis of writings on the relationship between power and knowledge by Horkheimer, Habermas and Foucault. In their work, political epistemology was pursued analogously to the development of political economy, which explored the background conditions and assumptions of economic research. I also show that Horkheimer, Habermas and Foucault each had normative aims intended to improve both epistemology and knowing practices. Though their approaches are distinct, the shared element was a concern with redefining truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborates on the idea of the epistemology of ignorance developed in Charles Mills's work beginning in the 1980s and continuing throughout his writings. I I argue that his account developed initially from experiences of racism in north America as well as certain methods of organizing within parts of the Caribbean left. Essentially the epistemic practice of ignorance causes knowers to discredit or push away knowledge they in fact have. But this gives us cause for hope, for restoring existing knowledge through changing ideas about who knows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will develop a set of concerns about a central feature of Ásta's account of social categories that she calls "conferralism." I argue that generalist approaches to social categories such as Ásta provides are inadequate as a way of understanding the diverse formations of diverse categories, and that conferralism overemphasizes the power of top‐down forces (what she calls "persons with standing") to confer social identities. This approach then underplays the horizontal and bottom‐up influences on category formation as well as the historical formation of many social identities, especially ethnicity and race. Conferralism sets aside not only physical differences that play a role in some categories but also group‐related historical experiences and practices that produce the "base properties" that justify the use of social identity categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]