Phorum.com.gr

A pledge by the United Kingdom’s Conservative government to “kick woke ideology out of science” has stirred controversy among many scientists. In recent remarks, the top U.K. science official said the government aims to stop “the steady creep of political correctness” in research and will review the use of questions related to sex and gender in scientific studies.

Many scientists are “appalled, saddened, and angry” by the effort, according to an open letter signed by more than 2000 researchers. “Far from depoliticising science, this policy appears to be driven by ideology” and threatens academic freedom, the 5 October letter asserts.

The controversy was sparked by a 3 October speech by Michelle Donelan, secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. Science is “under attack,” she told a Conservative Party conference, adding the government wants to protect “scientific research from the denial of biology.” She claimed scientists are being “told by university bureaucrats that they cannot ask legitimate research questions about biological sex.”
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Donelan also announced the launch of a review into the use of sex and gender questions in scientific research and statistics, with a goal of producing “robust guidance” by spring 2024. The review will be led by Alice Sullivan, head of research at University College London’s Social Research Institute.

Sullivan declined to comment until the details of the review are fleshed out. In a 2021 paper, she documented “ways in which the work of academics has been affected by political activism” around questions of sex, gender, and gender identity, citing examples of attempts to suppress research, shut down events, or get people fired. In an article published in February in Significance, a publication of the Royal Society of Statistics, she wrote: “It is time to call a halt on the erasure of sex in data collection.” Efforts “to remove sex-based language and sex-based data collection share a common root in queer theory and gender identity activism originating in the USA,” Sullivan wrote. “This is part of a larger political project aimed at the erasure of sex categories.” She argues binary sex data should be collected as a default variable and gender identity data should be collected where “relevant and useful.”

Many scientists have slammed Donelan’s speech. Her views “do not reflect the view of UK scientists. On the contrary, many are appalled, saddened, and angry that the government claims to be speaking for science in this way,” the open letter states.

The letter also takes issue with what it calls “over-simplistic or scientifically illiterate arguments” over the use of gender identities and biological definitions of sex. It accuses the government of attempting to “stoke so-called culture wars and make the UK increasingly hostile towards people identifying as intersex, non-binary and/or trans.”

“Saying to biologists that they are denying biology is ludicrous,” says linguist David Adger of Queen Mary University of London, who signed the letter. “It’s also dangerous. It makes people distrustful of science, and when that happens you get conspiracies emerging.”

The Conservatives’ antiwoke rhetoric “runs counter to their own goals” of making the U.K. a “science and technology superpower,” says materials scientist Rachel Oliver of the University of Cambridge, a co-author of the letter. She notes that in 2021, the government issued a strategy document that called for unleashing scientific talent by “attracting, developing and retaining diverse people with the right skills, working in an environment that nurtures and gets the best out of everyone.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has yet to respond to the letter. But Oliver, for one, says she hopes the government will provide “assurances that they remain committed to attracting, developing and retaining a diverse STEM workforce.”

AlienWay έγραψε: 28 Οκτ 2023, 16:24

BILLO έγραψε: 22 Νοέμ 2023, 18:09

AlienWay έγραψε: 28 Οκτ 2023, 16:24

To SOUTHPARK ειναι ολοκληρη σχολη σατιρας, τελος. Παρεπιπτοντως ισως να ειναι και οι μονοι πλεον που εχουν σιωπηλα λευκη επιταγη απο την Αμερικανικη κοινωνια να λεν οτι γουσταρουν. Παρεπιπτοντως επισης εχουν φτυαρισει παρα πολλα σκατα της Αμερικανικης κουλτουρας, απο εμμονες, κουλτουρες, ιδεολογιες, μοδες κτλ εδω και τριαντα κοντα χρονια. Οι τυποι εχουν επιτελεσει πραγματικο εργο και γι αυτο και τουμπεκιαζουν ολοι απεναντι τους.

AlienWay έγραψε: 22 Νοέμ 2023, 21:43

BILLO έγραψε: 22 Νοέμ 2023, 18:09

AlienWay έγραψε: 28 Οκτ 2023, 16:24

To SOUTHPARK ειναι ολοκληρη σχολη σατιρας, τελος. Παρεπιπτοντως ισως να ειναι και οι μονοι πλεον που εχουν σιωπηλα λευκη επιταγη απο την Αμερικανικη κοινωνια να λεν οτι γουσταρουν. Παρεπιπτοντως επισης εχουν φτυαρισει παρα πολλα σκατα της Αμερικανικης κουλτουρας, απο εμμονες, κουλτουρες, ιδεολογιες, μοδες κτλ εδω και τριαντα κοντα χρονια. Οι τυποι εχουν επιτελεσει πραγματικο εργο και γι αυτο και τουμπεκιαζουν ολοι απεναντι τους.

Όχι όλοι. Αν το ψάξεις θα δεις ότι κάποιοι το κατατάσσουν στην αλτ-ραητ. Πριν μερικά χρόνια τα είχε βάλει μαζί του και η συγγραφέας του κόμικ της she-hulk.

Dwarven Blacksmith έγραψε: 21 Νοέμ 2023, 12:46 https://twitter.com/aurorachaang/status ... 9759680657