Rethinking Pedagogical Design in International Development Studies to Foster Epistemic Justice

Acknowledging the genocide and scholasticide in Gaza—and the ensuing student encampments in solidarity as a critical rupture—this article reflects on how lecturers, students and alumni within an International Development Studies (IDS) programme at a Western, internationalized university grapple with epistemic injustice, decolonial praxis and institutional complicity. Using a collaborative auto-ethnographic approach and insights from a co-created workshop, we examine how IDS’ normative commitments to justice and decolonization are strained by everyday teaching practices, university management and the emotional and political complexities of learning during interconnected polycrises. Drawing on regenerative development theory and the Three Lines of Work framework, complemented with decolonial perspectives and critical pedagogical frameworks, we explore the significance of pedagogies of discomfort, hope and entanglement in responding to the 2024 campus protests in solidarity with Palestine. We propose three key pedagogical premises—paradigm shifting for systemic change, co-creative dialogical learning cultures and the cultivation of imperturbability as a core capacity—as pathways towards more regenerative, accountable and justice-oriented learning spaces. These premises may inform the work and inquiry of development educators, students and practitioners seeking to foster epistemic justice in how, what and why we teach and learn about present and future polycrises.