Rethinking activism: science and social science in conversation

• In Event: Science and Activism: Transdisciplinary Approaches

Abstract

Traditional understandings of activism fail to take into account the ways that scientists may seek to disrupt the status quo and create positive social change. A collaborative science-social science research project will be presented to explore the following research questions: What do we mean when we use the term ‘science and activism’? How do we make sense of the diverse ways that scientists create change – in other words, how do science and activism intersect, challenge, transgress and dismantle particular valuing systems to engender social change?; and, in what ways do scientific and activist popularization strategies open up and close down opportunities for interventions, mutual exchange, and engagement? In addition to sharing research results, scientists and social scientists will engage with these issues during the panel. This is intended as an interactive panel presentation that will open up discussion of how activism is practiced in science and how alternative approaches may be popularized. The aim, here, is to integrate multiple perspectives on science and activism, including key findings and conclusions from papers presented in the Panel 69 - Science and Activism: Trans-Disciplinary STS Approaches.

Author

• Judy Motion, UNSW