The Credentials Problem for Standpoint Theory

According to standpoint theorists, marginalised individuals often have an epistemic advantage in understanding oppression. Some have argued, on this basis, that socially privileged individuals have a duty to defer to marginalised standpoints. I argue that calls for such deference generate a ‘credentials problem’—the problem of determining who has the relevant epistemic authority. Without reliable criteria for identifying who has achieved a standpoint, we cannot determine to whom deference is owed. I argue that the credentials problem undermines the feasibility of standpoint-based deference, and I suggest that deference should be rooted in perspectival advantages that flow directly from lived experience.