Science and activism can and should rely on each other
I identify as both a scientist and an activist. The creation of The Climate Conversations stems from a gap in the climate world, in which key scientific discussions never really leave the academy, and in turn the climate science space is not made accessible to activists. In sharing news, scientific breakthroughs (the good and the bad), adaptation and mitigation successes, and general climate knowledge, this community page strives to facilitate and support the conversation between scientists, activists, and anyone else who has an interest in our changing climate. Activists should utilize the climate data available in order to further their work; science can provide an even stronger foundation for justifying the climate fight and for combating misinformation. In order for this to occur, science should be made easily available to those outside the scientific community. Scientists should also listen to and keep up with activists as they develop their research, implement their methodologies, and share their results; without considering the social justice aspects and implications of their work, the data can only go so far in aiding communities impacted by climate change. As building solidarity between various social justice movements is a recognizable way to make them stronger, creating an interdisciplinary connection that transcends categorization (ie, within or outside academia) can also serve to mend theory with practice, bringing scientific studies into the realm of real life. An additional nuance that is important to take into account is the difference between the uses of Western science and traditional knowledge. The scientific method follows Western ideals, and Indigenous knowledge ends up forgotten and ignored. Western science can take a page from climate activist’s books by acknowledging and uplifting these traditional beliefs, wisdom, and ideas. Incorporating Indigenous perspectives when engaging with science and activism can provide richer and more nuanced outcomes and insights for the benefit of our planet, our environment, and our communities.
To close up these thoughts is an excerpt from Sherri Mitchell - Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset’s essay Indigenous Prophecy and Mother Earth featured in All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis:
“Ironically, the Indigenous ways of knowing and being that European colonists saw as primitive and uncivilized are now being actively sought out to save our environment and humankind from the brink of extinction. Indigenous knowledge is based on millennia-long study of the complex relationships that exist among all systems within creation. It encompasses a broad array of scientific disciplines: ethnobotany, climatology, ecology, biology, archaeology, psychology, sociology, ethnomathematics, and religion. [...] Unfortunately, a great deal of critical Indigenous knowledge has remained outside the carefully ordered categorization of Western thought, making its holistic concepts difficult to comprehend for those who have been trained to see the world in fractured pieces. It is this fractured view that has been central to the fracturing of our societies and environment.”
