Capsizing Science: Decolonising Science

In recent years, there has been much discussion amongst members of the scientific community and the interested public, concerning the ways in which STEM fields perpetuate institutionalised racism. In this episode of Capsizing Science, a podcast that reflects on the global knowledge-making institution we call Science, and questions the unseen truths of the field, we investigate the colonial roots of various knowledge production cultures, and how current practices have, in some ways, retained the mentality of their colonial past.

From the age of discovery, to the turn of the 21st century, we take a deep dive into the past to look at the ways in which colonialism affected early sciences. We then turn our gaze toward our current era, and observe how these past influences have affected various fields, like modern health care or biomedical research.

With our guest, feminist social studies scholar Dr Juno Salazar Parreñas, we enquire into what is and can be done to done to change these forms of institutionalised racism that have persisted over time. By looking at social movements like #ShutDownSTEM to more personal politics of care, we try to give an answer to the question: How do we go about decolonising science?

A transcript of this podcast episode is available for accessibility purposes: Transcript Capsizing Science Decolonising Science

This podcast episode was made possible thanks to the teachings, feedback and time of teaching assistant Maximilian Braun, scholar and guest Dr Juno Salazar Parreñas, and our lecturer, Professor Ruth Müller.

This podcast’s music was found on Freesounds.org: the transition sound was created by Erokia/Jordan Powell, and the intro, background, and outro sounds were created by Setuniman. The original picture on which the podcast’s cover picture is based was found on Wikimedia and is a picture of the Seawise University in Victoria Harbour taken by Barry Loigman, M.D. More information can be found at the end of the transcript.

This podcast was produced by: Sarah Cannaux, Nicole Seimebua, Maheep Tripathi, and Oliver Zillig, all students at the Technical University of Munich.