Contribution short abstract:

As a mid-career African academic in the UK in the discipline of development studies, I want to reflect on the "triple hurdles" I face. The hurdles are epistemic orientation, language, and passport positionality

Contribution long abstract:

The challenges associated with epistemic orientations emanate from the hegemony of Eurocentric epistemologies in development studies. The universalist claim of Europe-centred knowledge frameworks, theories and concepts contributes to disregarding and discrediting ways of knowing and interpretations of the world I have been exposed to growing up in Ethiopia. I would like to share my experience of bringing non-Eurocentric epistemic orientations into my teaching and research. The second hurdle about language concerns normalising English as the only language for producing academic output recognised and valued in evaluating my academic success and achievements. The incentives to produce academic outputs in languages other than English are almost nonexistent. As a result, aspiring academics like me are discouraged from producing knowledge outputs easily accessible by most people from whom the empirical data is gathered and about whom most research in development studies is apparently concerned. The third hurdle is an outcome of systemic inequality that academics from the global south are experiencing because of their nationality/passport which restricts their social and physical mobility. In addition to the challenges associated with immigration policies in the UK (vast sums of money paid in the process of renewing visas, including their families), most academics from the global south invest lots of money, time, and psychological resources when they plan to travel for academic activities (Visa applications). I want to reflect on how the implications of these “triple hurdles” can be further explored within the context of pursuing social and epistemic justice within the field of development studies.