The development of the concept of "southern epistemologies" allows Boaventura de Sousa Santos to delineate a theoretical, methodological and pedagogical universe that defies the mastery of Eurocentric thought. Based on the knowledge born from the social struggles and experiences of marginalized peoples that actively resist capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy, the epistemologies of the South represent forms of knowledge that are normally discredited, silenced or ignored by the dominant cultures of the global North.
Noting the decline of established social and political solutions that sought to combat inequality and discrimination, the author argues that there can only be global justice through an epistemological transformation that ensures global cognitive justice. This change would generate alternative strategies for political mobilization and activism, providing oppressed social groups with the means to represent the world on their own terms and transform it according to their aspirations.