The Margin as Epistemological Center

Sor Juana wrote from the margins of colonial society—as a woman, an intellectual, and someone with indigenous heritage—yet her perspective illuminated truths invisible from positions of power. In policing reform, this concept means centering the lived experiences and knowledge of communities experiencing over-policing, discrimination, and violence rather than treating these perspectives as supplementary to official police narratives. Police stops, arrests, and use-of-force outcomes in marginalized communities reveal systemic patterns that cannot be understood from police administrative perspectives alone. This approach demands that policy-makers, trainers, and reformers begin by listening to and learning from those communities most impacted by policing. Their analysis of how cultural misunderstandings, racial bias, and institutional violence operate provides epistemological authority that must guide reform efforts toward genuine accountability and cultural competence.