Anti-Colonial Science: A Course Journal. Vol. 2, 2024. https://ojs.library.dal.ca/acs/

Fighting Environmental Disasters with History

Alfonso R Wright-Aguila

According to the Ramsar Convention or Wetlands Convention the frequency of disasters worldwide has more than doubled in the last 35 years, to nearly 1000 in 2014. They claim the majority arise from climate and weather-related natural hazards like flooding.¹ Confronted with these challenges, whether from climate change or the consequences of natural disasters, many people are driven and compelled to seek lessons from the past. Understanding past responses to floods can teach us how to build better barriers and use nature, like wetlands, to absorb storm impacts. A direct link can be traced between having scientific knowledge like barriers and using it to combat issues like floods. So, if the world is currently using scientific knowledge to combat rising environmental concerns, should there not be a spotlight on the history and narrative of “scientific knowledge” itself? Not surprisingly ‘scientific knowledge’ was once reserved for a few select individuals or groups and was only further manipulated by colonial and imperial systems. So, to counter the overbearing colonial manipulation, this short paper will overlap the works of Steven J. Harris, Amilcar L. Cabral, and Sandra Harding to demonstrate how previously sidelined ideas can transform and create new forms of environmental science. Harris details how explorers cataloged the world for their gain, Cabral emphasizes the power of revolutionary ideas, Harding reveals the overlooked contributions of marginalized groups and Cabral emphasizes the power of revolutionary ideas. Together, they force us to reimagine new solutions that might have otherwise been lost.

The history of scientific knowledge is dominated by exclusivity and privilege. So where did these people “do science," and what other ways are there of contextualizing what we consider knowledge? This is the question Steven J. Harris raises in Long-Distance Corporations, Big Sciences, and the Geography of Knowledge. By focusing on map documentation during the age of exploration, where European explorers sought to explore new parts of the world, Harris's question draws out the idea that knowledge is transferable and that it can be controlled and disseminated.² The Spanish Crown maintained strict control over the distribution of cartographic knowledge, using the maps and charts from sponsored explorations, such as the Padrón Real and The Salviati Planisphere (see figure 1), as standardized/mandatory templates for mapping.³ Harris states, "In the case of the Casa de la Contratación, the regulation of travel through the licensing of pilots and the laws of navigation were the first steps in the Spanish Crown's attempt to manage systematically the information gathered from the New World."⁴ With the power to define territories, resources, and even peoples, the power to control knowledge like maps, whether intentional or not, is inherently prone to bias and potential manipulation. Questioning where science is being done, who is doing the science, and where this science goes nudges us to question the locations of knowledge production, the pathways of its dissemination, and the agents involved in its transfer. Harris's work is the building block among the three readings, as it compellingly lays out how the history of ‘scientific knowledge’ is kind of poisoned by biases and control. Transitioning to Sandra Harding, it turns out these poisoned historical biases reflected in scientific practices have long-term consequences, affecting whom knowledge serves and who gets to produce it legitimately.

Sandra Harding's paper Postcolonial and Feminist Philosophies of Science and Technology criticizes science's problematic past through a ‘postcolonial’ and ‘feminist lens’.⁵ She argues that these frameworks are fluid and transitional,⁶ and that in the contemporary world, we should challenge ourselves to achieve more inclusivity in scientific and technological fields. She stresses the importance of diverse perspectives, particularly noting the historical exclusion of women from central roles in science. She argues that "The absence of women in positions of funding, sponsoring, designing, and managing scientific and technological projects... has influenced the direction and content of scientific inquiry."⁷ This exclusion, Harding argues, has shaped the trajectory of scientific practices. For instance, she highlights how indigenous women have often been primary sources of knowledge about local plant life, yet this information has often been co-opted without acknowledgment by Western scientific models.⁸ She states that “indigenous women may have been the majority of 'native informants' about indigenous pharmacologies and economic uses of local botanies."⁹ Such misappropriation has reinforced biased views, granting undue legitimacy to Western Science while obfuscating indigenous contributions. This leads to lasting consequences, as the recognition of scientific knowledge lends them false legitimacy. To conclude, Harding's approach proposes an inclusive route to doing science. Building off Harris's poisoned history of science and Harding's plea for inclusivity, Cabral's insights are perhaps the most essential. Cabral’s paper is a call to arms, one locked and loaded, ready to fire off strategies for societal change.

Building upon the groundwork laid by Harris and Harding, which detailed the historical biases embedded in scientific practice and preached the necessity for inclusive knowledge, Amilcar L. Cabral's The Weapon of Theory can be used to create actionable change to discourse. Cabral advocates for a profound understanding of one's specific situation as a precursor to effective transformation. He states that "We are convinced that any national or social revolution which is not founded on adequate knowledge of this reality runs grave risks of poor results or of being doomed to failure."¹⁰ He argues that revolutions or social changes lacking a foundation in thorough knowledge of the existing reality are at great risk of failure or poor outcomes. In short if you try to make big changes without really understanding the situation, you're likely to fail. This perspective suggests that only with a comprehensive grasp of the distinct environmental challenges each community faces can we initiate meaningful and effective interventions. In essence, Harding’s and Harris’s examinations uncover the often-unrecognized contributions and perspectives that have been historically sidelined. Cabral's insights act as a launchpad to action, asserting that a deep awareness of one's context and an appreciation of diverse knowledge sources are not merely “academic exercises” but prerequisites for substantial progress in both science and society.

Scientific knowledge, or doing science, is used every day. Most importantly, they are used to solve future world problems through acts of environmentalism. This essay advocates for a new way of thinking about science and its history. This thinking should use the full spectrum of human experience and past knowledge. By recognizing the value of insights from all cultures and societies, especially those historically marginalized, we can address environmental issues with a depth and effectiveness that was previously unfeasible. The works of Harris, Cabral, and Harding collectively prove that science is rooted in bias and that only by accepting and learning from this can we do science in a just and effective manner.

Bibliography

Harris, Steven J. "Long-Distance Corporations, Big Sciences, and the Geography of Knowledge." Configurations 6, no. 2 (1998): 269-304.

Cabral, Amilcar L. "The Weapon of Theory." Address delivered to the first Tricontinental Conference of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America held in Havana in January, 1966.

Harding, Sandra. "Postcolonial and feminist philosophies." In The Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia, Volume 2, edited by Sahotra Sarkar and Jessica Pfeifer, 393-411. New York: Routledge, 2009.

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. "Disaster Risk Reduction: Roles of Wetlands." Factsheet. https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/fs_9_drr_eng_22fev.pdf

Endnotes

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1. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.↩︎

2. Steven Harris, Long-Distance Corporations, Big Sciences, and the Geography of Knowledge (1998), 62-64.↩︎

3. Harris, Long-Distance Corporations, 66-69.↩︎

4. Harris, Long-Distance Corporations, 163.↩︎

5. Sandra Harding, Postcolonial and Feminist Philosophies (2009), 95↩︎

6. Harding, Postcolonial and Feminist Philosophies, 111↩︎

7. Harding, Postcolonial and Feminist Philosophies, 101.↩︎

8. Harding, Postcolonial and Feminist Philosophies, 101.↩︎

9. Harding, Postcolonial and Feminist Philosophies, 101.↩︎

10. Cabral, "Weapon of Theory," 391.↩︎

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Copyright (c) 2024 Alfonso R Wright-Aguila

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