The occasion of the Rio + 20 conference (June 20-21st) was hoped by some grassroots and NGO members of the international community to deal with the problem of technology assessment in international development. As anarchists, we realise that the United Nations is an unlikely place to make progress on such a problem because the United Nations are neither socialist nor in opposition to state power. Nonetheless the concern is real and it is to this concern that we might address discussions on anarchism and science; although, to be clear, an anarchist science initiative is not merely about the Rio+20 process.
To invoke Rudolf Rocker’s distinction between nationalism and culture, if we are to build a world of autonomous and cooperative cultures, rather than “united” nations, then we must begin to address the knowledge (scientific, indigenous, worker & campesina expertise, etc.) that we will use to construct the social relations and infrastructure of a post-capitalist world.
Rio + 20
The occasion of the Rio + 20 conference (June 20-21st) was hoped by some grassroots and NGO members of the international community to deal with the problem of technology assessment in international development. As anarchists, we realise that the United Nations is an unlikely place to make progress on such a problem because the United Nations are neither socialist nor in opposition to state power. Nonetheless the concern is real and it is to this concern that we might address discussions on anarchism and science; although, to be clear, an anarchist science initiative is not merely about the Rio+20 process.
To invoke Rudolf Rocker’s distinction between nationalism and culture, if we are to build a world of autonomous and cooperative cultures, rather than “united” nations, then we must begin to address the knowledge (scientific, indigenous, worker & campesina expertise, etc.) that we will use to construct the social relations and infrastructure of a post-capitalist world.