Fragmentation in Ignorance Studies: Why Has the Field Not Converged?

This article examines the conceptual fragmentation within the field of ignorance studies, tracing its emergence from three independent intellectual streams in the twentieth century: the history and sociology of science (centred on Proctor’s agnotology), moral philosophy and epistemology (centred on Fricker’s epistemic injustice), and critical race theory (centred on Mills’s white ignorance). The author argues that while the independence of these three streams was perhaps necessary at the outset, it has now become a structural obstacle to the formation of a shared conceptual architecture. This fragmentation has demonstrated significant practical costs during recent global crises, including the 2016 post-truth turn and the Covid-19 infodemic. By closely analysing five historical attempts at convergence, from Smithson (1989) to Peels (2023), this paper demonstrates that the field’s primary challenge is not a shortage of integration efforts, but rather the recurrence of fragmentation within the unifying attempts themselves. The article proposes a shift from mere "naming" to structural explanation, offering key open questions to foster a deliberate and integrated dialogue across the field's traditions.