Addiction studies often define drug dependence as a “temporal disorder”. Primarily, three types of temporal mismatches are identified in this context: 1) A mismatch between an individual’s susceptibility to temptation and their long-term desires; 2) A mismatch between the temporal experience of a person with drug dependence and the socially accepted means of expressing such experiences; 3) A mismatch between the temporal framework in which a person with drug dependence lives and the rest of society (failure of social synchronization).

The first two types of mismatches have been discussed within the context of bioethical debates and in narrative research on addiction, respectively. They are mostly associated with two widely debated forms of epistemic injustice: testimonial injustice and hermeneutical injustice. The first type primarily arises due to negative stereotypes and stigmatization, while the second occurs when the interpretive tools of the dominant community are inadequate for expressing one’s experiences.

The third type of mismatch, related to the connection between drug dependence and the failure of social synchronization, has been the subject of time management and time budgeting studies. However, its link to epistemic injustice has been overlooked. The issue here is that individuals with drug dependence often cannot communicate or, more specifically, seek help from healthcare institutions when they are most prone to do so and are in dire need of assistance.

The experience of forced migration helps us better recognize this aspect of epistemic injustice. Going through a series of transitions in ‘non-places’ like train stations, temporary shelters, and hospitals, immigrants find themselves primarily engaged in waiting and disconnected from other social temporalities. When this experience overlaps with drug dependence, individuals find themselves in a dual state of asynchrony and in dual epistemic isolation.

Sergei Shevchenko is currently a visiting scholar at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory. He has a PhD in philosophy of medicine and an MSc in biology. His research centers on the epistemic injustice in healthcare and ethical and social issues of human enhancement. He is also a founder of the Observatory for Comparative Bioethics, Independent Institute of Philosophy Association (Paris, France).

Sergei Shevchenko is currently a visiting scholar at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory. He has a PhD in philosophy of medicine and an MSc in biology. His research centers on the epistemic injustice in healthcare and ethical and social issues of human enhancement. He is also a founder of the Observatory for Comparative Bioethics, Independent Institute of Philosophy Association (Paris, France).