Epistemic Dominance and the Decolonial Turn in Comparative and International Education Research

In this chapter, we argue that epistemic dominance is not merely a theoretical concern but a structural condition shaping research questions, methodological legitimacy, and knowledge circulation within comparative and international education (CIE) research. Drawing on decolonial, Southern, and border epistemologies, this chapter situates CIE within its colonial and geopolitical histories and interrogates how global policy institutions, publication practices, and methodological orthodoxies continue to privilege positivist, English-language, and indicator-driven approaches. This chapter pursues two interrelated aims. First, it synthesizes recent scholarship to demonstrate how decolonial and Southern theoretical perspectives disrupt entrenched hierarchies of knowledge and open space for epistemic plurality. Second, it advances a methodological guide that foregrounds reflexivity, researcher positionality, and ethical responsibility while embracing participatory, indigenous, translingual, and South–South research approaches. By engaging debates on epistemic justice, epistemic disobedience, and cognitive justice, this chapter reframes epistemic dominance as a central conceptual and methodological challenge in CIE. It concludes by offering practical pathways for reimagining comparative research in ways that are more inclusive, contextually grounded, and epistemically just.