Academic Charlatans and their Knowledge Production under Authoritarian Regime―An Interdisciplinary Research Proposal between Transitional Justice and Epistemic Injustice

This paper analyses the relationship between academic researchers and an authoritarian regime through theories of transitional justice and epistemic injustice to explicate how authoritarianism impacts knowledge production and development of a society. By case studies, the paper claims that although both theories could partially explain difficulties of production and spread of knowledge in the authoritarian-ruled society, it seems that each of their explanation taken solely is not adequate to address the problem. After reviewing literatures, the paper finds that (1) transitional justice seems not able to explain the negative influences on knowledge on which an authoritarian regime has put the society and that (2) epistemic injustice seems not able to account for prejudices based on the political ideology of the regime. The author thereby proposes an interdisciplinary research project between the two fields so as not merely to seek a rather full understanding of the problem but to make contributions to them.