Capitalists’ Profitable Virtual Worlds: Roles for Science and Science Education

Bencze, Larry; Carter, Lyn

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9404-6_57

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…that they may believe are best for them but may distract them from awareness of exploitative activities enacted by capitalists (Foucault, 2008). Although it is not necessarily causal, such subterfuge may work because many (or most) citizens have been conditioned to regularly develop identities and accommodate behaviours based on repeating cycles of consumption and disposal of products and services that are attractive to them because of various positive semiotic messages associated with them that can, like a Trojan horse, distract consumers from awareness of often hidden negative relationships with the products/services (Bencze & Carter, 2015). Playing prominent roles in such subterfuge appear to be fields of science and technology.…”

Section: Our 'Normal' Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Common -largely unavoidable -sets of problems, as Roth ( 2001) noted, are ontological gaps; that is, inconsistencies in translations between World and Sign due to differences in composition (ontologies) of entities (e.g., geographic areas [World] vs. maps of them [Signs]). Much more avoidable, however, are ideological gaps; that is, intentional inconsistencies in the translations (Bencze & Carter, 2015). It has long been felt that, for example, scientists may try to 'sell' their ideas -using different techniques -to influence readers' interpretations of their data and arguments (Latour & Woolgar, 1986).…”

Section: Our 'Normal' Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reimagining Science and Technology Education in the COVID-19 Portal

Alsop

Bencze

2020

JASTE

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Volume 11, Issue 2 (2020) [jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/jaste]ii more refugees and displaced people in the world than ever before, and these figures will likely rise as a result of the pandemic.The brutal murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police is another world shaking event. This sickening and needless death and many others have led to uprisings in the US by Black Lives Matter (BLM) and those held in solidarity around the world. Protestors, in defiance of lock-down, have brought deeply ingrained injustices home. BLM have reignited and reoriented civil rights movements, bringing attention to racialized injustices, violence and police brutalities. The BLM movement has ruptured civic spheres and injustices that were somehow accepted as a tragic part of everyday life, are now repugnant and indefensible. As JASTE editors and authors, we stand in solidarity with BLM and all those who have taken to the streets in protest. We reflect on ways that science and education practices, including our practices, are deeply implicated in perpetuating anti-Black racism and inequalities. We acknowledge that racism is a public health and environmental issue that is further worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.We are all vulnerable to COVID-19 although, in practice, of course, the virus affects different groups in very different ways. The pandemic builds on ingrained inequalities and injustices of racism, colonialism, capitalism, class-struggle, poverty, food and health insecurities and environmental degradations. It is a crisis that builds on crisis. The following articles in this journal issue make this abundantly clear.The planetary environmental crisis has been somewhat occluded by COVID-19. Buried in the media and news items are conflicting reports of nature flourishing with fauna and flora returning to cities, improving air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions still rising but doing so at reduced rates. Recent news items have marked the last 10 years as the hottest on record, and Siberia is currently grappling with debilitating temperatures and forest fires previously unknown. Indeed, some have asked whether the pandemic should be conceived as dry run -a warm-up act for something much worse. Others have seen it as a moment in which a Green New Deal might be realised.Around the world, there has been mass closure of institutions of education to restrict the spread of the virus, millions of learners are now out-of-school. UNESCO has been monitoring school closures, highlighting how girls and rural, working class communities have been disproportionately affected. During the pandemic, makeshift educational arrangements have been put in place, mostly in the form of online and distance learning. Students and families lacking computers and stable WIFI connections are further marginalised. In the countries first affected, schools are now reopening. Education administrators, teachers and students are juggling (im)practicalities of social distancing, daily temperature testing, and how best to organise and timetable smaller classes...

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Section: Our 'Normal' Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Our 'Normal' Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reimagining Science and Technology Education in the COVID-19 Portal

Alsop

Bencze

2020

JASTE

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“…Based on arguments above, consumers are purchasing (and often discarding) virtual ‘Trojan horses,’ commodities that, through idealized abstractions on the surface, mask harmful features within (Bencze & Carter, 2015 ). An important way to think of this is through actor-network theory, particularly in terms of punctualization , that is, making a network of relations appear reduced to a single entity (Callon, 1991 ).…”

Section: Our Current Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-visioning Ideological Assemblages Through De-punctualizing and Activist Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

Bencze

2020

Can. J. Sci. Math. Techn. Educ.

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“…Common -largely unavoidable -sets of problems, as Roth (2001) noted, are ontological gaps; that is, inconsistencies in translations between World and Sign due to differences in composition (ontologies) of entities (e.g., geographic areas [World] vs. maps of them [Signs]). Much more avoidable, however, are ideological gaps; that is, intentional inconsistencies in the translations (Bencze & Carter, 2015). It has long been felt that, for example, scientists may try to 'sell' their ideas -using different techniques -to influence readers' interpretations of their data and arguments (Latour & Woolgar, 1986).…”

Section: Our 'Normal' Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-pandemic Science & Technology Education

Bencze

2020

JASTE

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Much of the world is experiencing a crisis in which many ‘instructional packets’ (SARS-CoV-2 viruses) have commandeered ‘machinery’ of living beings to propagate themselves — regardless of surrounding harms their self-interested purposes may cause. Although they have, indeed, caused massive global disruption, crises linked to hegemonic actors are not uncommon. Capitalists, like viruses, conscript various living and nonliving entities to serve them and, in their persistent — and, generally, highly-successful — pursuit of profit, are said to be responsible for numerous social injustices and much environmental devastation, such as climate disruption and nuclear war (Ripple et al., 2020). Accordingly, like viral pandemics, many suggest that capitalism is a ‘pandemic’ and also must be eliminated — and, some would suggest, replaced with eco-socialist worlds. Capitalism seems, however, to be extremely resilient, often able to survive different crises and, sometimes, capable of emerging even stronger. In this vein, Naomi Klein (2007) suggests that capitalists and others have routinely exploited natural and anthropogenic disasters — using societal destabilization to further implement pro-capitalist policies, often at expense of well-being of many people (e.g., gig workers), societies (e.g., under surveillance) and environments (e.g., climate change). The CoViD-19 pandemic, however, may be a special kind of crisis — perhaps opening doors to more non-capitalist futures. Although enabling, for instance, more for-profit surveillance, it also may have disaggregated capitalist networks to the point of severe weakening and, in doing so, enlightened many people about pre-crisis neoliberal and populist infrastructures that may have contributed to this and other crises. Such conscientization may, in turn, have emboldened many to work for better futures. Given roles of science and technology (S&T) in capitalist empowerment, a natural place for such transformation may be science and technology education. In this paper, a framework for S&T education showing promise in this regard is described and defended. Nevertheless, those wishing societal transformation towards more eco-socialist futures need to engage multiple and diverse living, non-living and symbolic entities in ways that may generate networks supportive of such transformations.

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Capitalists’ Profitable Virtual Worlds: Roles for Science and Science Education

Cited by 15 publications

References 32 publications

Reimagining Science and Technology Education in the COVID-19 Portal

Reimagining Science and Technology Education in the COVID-19 Portal

Re-visioning Ideological Assemblages Through De-punctualizing and Activist Science, Mathematics and Technology Education

Post-pandemic Science & Technology Education

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