Black Feminist Epistemologies and Decolonial Practices in Science Communication

Making Visible the Voices of Black Women in the Construction of Knowledge

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5335/rep.v32.17084

Keywords:

Feminist Epistemologies; Decolonial; Women; Black; Science Communication.

Abstract

This paper discusses how Black feminist epistemologies and decolonial practices can reconfigure science communication, transforming it into a space of resistance, reconstruction, and cognitive justice. Based on a qualitative approach and a critical literature review, the study examines how these critical perspectives challenge traditional models of knowledge production and circulation, historically shaped by exclusions of race, gender, and class. Black feminist epistemologies, by valuing subjectivity, orality, ancestry, and lived experience, propose a new school of epistemic knowledge, while decolonial practices question the coloniality of knowledge and foster the legitimacy of plural ways of knowing. The analysis of Brazilian, Latin American, and African initiatives highlights the transformative potential of science communication when anchored in intersectional and collective perspectives. The study concludes that, by incorporating historically marginalized voices, science ceases to be a neutral field and becomes a political, plural, and emancipatory territory.

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Author Biographies

  • Alcione Aparecida da Silva, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá/PR – Brasil

    PhD candidate in Science and Mathematics Education at the State University of Maringá (UEM) and holds a Master's degree in Public History from the State University of Paraná (UNESPAR). She has a Bachelor's degree in History from the State University of Northern Paraná (UENP, 2004), a second licentiate in Spanish Language also from UENP (2020), a degree in Pedagogy from the Faculty of Sciences of Wenceslau Braz (2015), and a degree in Visual Arts from the University Center of Jales (2013). She is currently a teacher in the Municipal Education Networks of Ribeirão do Pinhal and Abatiá. Her academic focus is on Education, with an emphasis on gender studies, history teaching, public history, and the history of science.

  • Marcos Cesar Danhoni Neves, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá/PR – Brasil

    PhD in Education from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), with a Master's degree in Physics from the same institution and a Bachelor's degree in Physics from the State University of Maringá (UEM). He completed postdoctoral research in Science Education at the Department of Physics of the University of Rome La Sapienza (Italy) and at the Faculty of Sciences of the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Bauru campus, in the Graduate Program in Science Education. He specialized in Science and Technology Education in Jerusalem, Palestine (West Bank). He is a Full Professor in the Department of Physics at the State University of Maringá (UEM), where he has been teaching since 1989. He has twice received the Paraná Science and Technology Award in the fields of Human Sciences and Exact Sciences. He coordinates the planetariums "Circus Stellarium" and "Professor Carlos Alfredo Argüello" at UEM. He is currently leading the implementation of the Science Park, which will integrate the Planetarium, the Cortini-Vicentini Astronomical Observatory, and the Tereza-Batista Sky Plaza.

  • Fausto Neves Silva, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá/PR – Brasil

    PhD candidate in Science and Mathematics Education at the State University of Maringá (UEM). Holds a Master's degree in Physics (2009) and a Bachelor's and Licentiate degree in Physics (2006) from the State University of Londrina (UEL). He is currently a tenured professor at the Federal Institute of Paraná (IFPR) – Ivaiporã Campus. His research areas include Atomic and Molecular Physics, with emphasis on the applications of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) in new materials and natural resources; Science Education (Physics); and studies on Digital Platforms. During his undergraduate research, he investigated symmetry properties, symmetry operations, symmetry transformations, and the S₃ group. In his master's research, he studied porphyrinic structures using the Electron Paramagnetic Resonance technique.

  • Vitor Emanuel Dantas da Silva , Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá/PR – Brasil

    Master's student in Science and Mathematics Education in the Graduate Program in Science and Mathematics Teaching (PCM). Holds a degree in Chemistry from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUC-PR, 2023) and postgraduate specializations in Special Education, School Management, and Neuroeducation. During his undergraduate research, he developed studies on innovative paradigms in education, with an emphasis on Edgar Morin’s Theory of Complexity, as well as investigations on bioactive compounds from Cordia americana. He currently works as a Chemistry teacher and support teacher in the State Education Network of Paraná. His master's research focuses on discourses about artificial intelligence in science education.

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Published

2025-12-13

Issue

Vol. 32 (2025): PUBLICAÇÃO CONTÍNUA

Section

Dossiê - Diálogos entre Ciência e Sociedade: o papel da Popularização, Divulgaçã

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Os direitos autorais são mantidos pelos autores, os quais concedem à revista o direito de primeira publicação. 

How to Cite

Black Feminist Epistemologies and Decolonial Practices in Science Communication: Making Visible the Voices of Black Women in the Construction of Knowledge. Revista Espaço Pedagógico, [S. l.], v. 32, p. e17084, 2025. DOI: 10.5335/rep.v32.17084. Disponível em: https://ojs.upf.br/index.php/rep/article/view/17084. Acesso em: 16 jan. 2026.