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Erschienen in: TechTrends 3/2023

15.12.2022

Anti-racism for Freethinkers: Cultivating a Mindset for Curiosity and Scientific Inquiry in the Context of Racial Equity and Social Justice

verfasst von: Ron Eglash, Audrey Bennett

Erschienen in: TechTrends | Ausgabe 3/2023

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Abstract

The term “freethinking” originated in the 17th century to describe inquiry into beliefs which were accepted unquestioningly. Feminists such as Mary Wolstonecraft, abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, and novelists such as Mark Twain and Zora Neal Hurston are among the many who dared to simultaneously challenge religious dogma, patriarchal convention and racialized boundaries. But today the concept has been appropriated by the alt-right. A broad spectrum ranging from hardened white supremacists to those with more centrist tendencies have developed a discourse that objects to any form of antiracism on the grounds that it runs counter to individualism and freethought. In this essay we suggest that this critique from the alt-right should not be dismissed. Rather, it should be the impetus to revitalize the connections between antiracism and the principles of freethinking. We map out some of the history in which these connections were previously established; the reason the connection was weakened, and the principles by which the confluence could be restored. We recount some initial experiments using educational technologies to support this framework.
Fußnoten
1
For example the “right to refusal” when science education creates a destructive context is highlighted in Martin et al. 2019. An older example would be Aimé Césaire in his 1939 poetic manifesto of the Négritude movement: “Hurray for those who have never invented anything. For those who have never explored anything. For those who have never vanquished anything.” (Césaire 2017).
 
2
Bauernfeind and Babbitt (2020). Metabolic changes in human brain evolution. Evol Anthropol. 29(4):201–211. doi: https://​doi.​org/​10.​1002/​evan.​21831.
 
3
Of course evolution is not “deliberate”; that is shorthand for describing an adaptive advantage that is so deeply integrated that it exists across wide phylogenetic spans.
 
4
Recent research suggests that since vitamin B (folate) is degraded by UV light, its dietary availability could have interacted with latitude to play a role in the evolution of skin color (Lucock et al., 2022).
 
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Metadaten
Titel
Anti-racism for Freethinkers: Cultivating a Mindset for Curiosity and Scientific Inquiry in the Context of Racial Equity and Social Justice
verfasst von
Ron Eglash
Audrey Bennett
Publikationsdatum
15.12.2022
Verlag
Springer US
Erschienen in
TechTrends / Ausgabe 3/2023
Print ISSN: 8756-3894
Elektronische ISSN: 1559-7075
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00815-9

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