Emancipatory knowledge and epistemic reflexivity: The knowledge and practice for change?

Abstract

This State of the Science issue invites us to ponder "solution-ism," echoing scholars throughout history who have questioned the technical rationalities that tend to accompany its logic.1 Diverse thinkers have expressed concern for understanding the complexity of our social worlds2-4 while also expressing a healthy caution against the potential unintended effects of even the most well-intended "solutions." In this sense, the papers in this special issue help to add complexity to our collective thinking within the field of health professional education, providing nuance in how we might approach some of our most cherished intentions for positive change. The papers by Nerland and HasuREF and Gordon and Cleland,REF do so while sharing a particular focus, each drawing connections between change at the level of individual professionals and broader change at the level of entire professions, organizations, or systems. Nerland and Hasu connect individual practitioners with systems of knowledge production through the concept of epistemic reflexivity. Gordon and Cleland draw from three different social theories to connect micro (individual) and macro (organizational) change.