Han Edgoose

This thesis is a philosophical analysis of the trans panic (the ongoing moral panic about trans people in the UK) which utilises the philosophical tools of ideology and epistemic injustice. Drawing on the work of Sally Haslanger, I define ideologies as epistemically defective networks of social meanings that function to uphold oppression. I describe how dominant ideologies cause hermeneutical injustice by failing to provide sufficient hermeneutical resources. I argue that an ideology I name ‘cissexist ideology’ functions to uphold the oppression of trans people and consists of social meanings about the supposedly binary nature of sex and gender, and stereotypes about trans people. I argue that notable features of the trans panic, such as its persistence and resistance to efforts to tackle it, and its wide scope, can be explained by a feedback loop between ideology and epistemic injustice. Although I don’t attribute ignorance with a substantial causal role in the trans panic, I also trace several ways that ideology leads to ignorance, including in the context of the trans panic. I continue my analysis of the trans panic by providing accounts of two phenomena that are occurring within it. The first is a type of epistemic injustice that I term ‘hermeneutical sabotage’. Hermeneutical sabotage occurs when dominantly situated knowers actively worsen the available hermeneutical resources for understanding the experiences of a marginalised group. They do this by distorting hermeneutical resources necessary for understanding marginalised groups’ experiences, and introducing new, prejudiced hermeneutical resources. I explain how this is taking place within the trans panic and how hermeneutical sabotage is used as a tactic to further the aims of harmful political movements. I also give an account of the phenomenon I name ‘ideological true beliefs’: true beliefs about the world which are made true by ideological social construction and function to uphold an ideology. Ideological true beliefs are often expressed as claims and used to provide faulty evidence for false ideological claims. Even though they are constructed by ideology, it is not in the interest of activists to deny ideological true beliefs because they reflect the reality of the unjust world that activists must acknowledge. Activists therefore need other strategies to tackle them. Finally, I turn to the question of how to tackle the trans panic. I argue that consciousness raising offers a method for generating warranted ideology critique. I then outline some tactics that activists can use to tackle the trans panic and explain how these intervene in the cissexist ideology/epistemic injustice feedback loop and tackle the phenomena I describe. Ultimately, I argue it will take a multiplicity of tactics to tackle the trans panic.

In this paper I identify a distinct form of epistemic injustice and oppression which I call ‘hermeneutical sabotage’. Hermeneutical sabotage occurs when dominantly situated knowers actively maintain or worsen the dominant hermeneutical resources for understanding the experiences or identities of marginalised groups. They do this through actively distorting the resistant hermeneutical resources developed by marginalised groups, and by introducing new, prejudiced hermeneutical resources. I develop a taxonomy of four forms hermeneutical sabotage can take, giving an example of each, and explain the difference between ‘hermeneutical sabotage’ and other types of epistemic injustice. I demonstrate the importance of having the concept of hermeneutical sabotage for recognising how it can be used, intentionally or unintentionally, to further the aims of harmful political movements. I give examples of hermeneutical sabotage which furthers the aims of transphobic, racist, and anti-immigrant political movements.