Epistemic Violence in The Case of Kashmir

Abstract

This thesis aims to problematize the concept of epistemic violence (E.V) and to explore how it unfolds in the case of Kashmir. A generic understanding of epistemic violence is the cornerstone for navigating the study. The focus of the study is to explore the ‘existence’ of epistemic violence or injustice and to find out ‘how’ it manifests in the context of Kashmir. The overarching theoretical framework that has been utilized in this research is that of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. The noteworthy point is that Spivak defines epistemic violence as the imposition of non-local discourse, primarily settler-colonial, westernized terms that are frequently deployed in the literature, usually with no intention of causing direct harm in general. But the repetitive nature of these practices causes harmful repercussions for the indigenous communities. General indicators of epistemic injustice were distinguished and clustered through a comprehensive literature review. Qualitative exploratory research is deployed to analyze the epistemological motives behind the usage of common themes in the mainstream academic discourse. This will enable us to understand how these themes can rightfully be characterized as players of epistemic violence. For this purpose, the data was collected by utilizing Google Scholar and Web of Science databases and selecting well-cited and relevant articles (spanning from the year 2003-2020). Specific common themes repeatedly deployed to contextualize the reality of Kashmir were singled out to perform the research methodology of thematic analysis. The recurrent themes in the mainstream discourse were found to be nationalism, nuclear, terrorism, security, territorial, reality, bilateral, perception, agenda, and resistance. The epistemological implications due to the repetition of these themes in the mainstream academic discourse have been exhaustively analyzed in the backdrop of general indicators of E.V identified initially in the literature review. These indicators are power-knowledge nexus, absence of dialectal conversation, conditions of subalternity, vulnerability to legitimized violent tactics, construction of epistemes informing practices of domination, epistemic gap vis a vis subaltern’s articulation of truth, and naming & framing. The findings of this study establish that these themes can rightfully be characterized as players of epistemic violence. Therefore, it is safe to say that the mainstream discourse around Kashmir is a breeding ground for the leading indicators of epistemic violence.