Risk society and epistemic inequality: rising voices from the Global South in global governance

This chapter examines a type of immaterial inequality that is often indiscernible in the public gaze yet central to our collective prospect in a world risk society: the epistemic inequality within science. This chapter first provides a conceptual review of the relation between risk society and a historically embedded epistemic inequality experienced by the Global South scientific communities. It then draws on the example of International Association of Neurorestoration (IANR), an international professional association mainly comprised of members from China, India, Iran, Argentina. The discussion not only demonstrates how epistemic inequality persists in the absence of scientific certainty, which reinforces arguments from many existing studies that the subversive potential of risk on world order cannot be taken for granted. More importantly, by tracing how scientists associated with IANR have evolved from local mavericks to global players, this chapter examines an underlying mechanism which Global South communities could use to mitigate or even overcome epistemic inequality.