On Earth Day — Saturday, April 22 — droves of scientists are scheduled to march in Washington, D.C., with satellite marches scheduled around the world. Many organizers and possible attendees have clearly stated that there is nothing political or partisan about the march. (They are just scientists after all!) Rather, they are taking to the streets to challenge the current presidential regime’s threat to scientific advancements, funding and academic freedom.
As one of my tweeps (Twitter peeps), @DrCBurton asked, “if science isn’t political why the hell march?!?”
Figuring out whether the very act of a political march is, well, political is perhaps a secondary concern to the longstanding debate over whether science itself is political. If science supposedly stays out of politics, and vice versa, why go political now?
Another tweep of mine, Dr. Zuleyka Zevallos (@OtherSociology) pulled back an important layer to these debates. “Why are they marching? Oh ‘Science is under attack.’ Read: now White male scientists affected, let’s march.” Now the scientific profession is taking to political action — namely, against political interference — because the most privileged scientists (i.e., White men) are affected for the first time.
I should be clear that the concerns to be addressed by the upcoming March for Science are important, urgent, and noble. From the march’s main website: “Recent policy changes have caused heightened worry among scientists, and the incredible and immediate outpouring of support has made clear that these concerns are also shared by hundreds of thousands of people around the world.”
Scientists are unifying to emphasize the benefits of scientific advancement to all of society, of science education, of accessible scientific research, of public policy informed by science. The future of our nation, particularly in these tense and uncertain times, rests upon inclusive, accessible, and well-funded scientific research and teaching.
“The mischaracterization of science as a partisan issue,” that same website continues, “which has given policymakers permission to reject overwhelming evidence, is a critical and urgent matter.” We are neither politicians nor activists. Heck, we don’t even bring our values, ideologies, identities, or subjective experiences into our labs. We are objective!
