– Summary of the GEODES workshop @SGM2024, Basel
During the GEODES workshop at SGM2024 in Basel, we were happy to welcome two speakers talking about Decolonizing Geosciences. Robyn Pickering (University of Cape Town) gave an overview of “Why and how […] we need to decolonize Geosciences”, followed by Chinwe Ifjierka Speranza sharing her personal experiences as “A geographer […] doing fieldwork in Western Africa”.
From Dr. Ifjierka Speranza’s personal experiences, fieldwork in African countries can be complicated by different aspects. Due to their colonial history, the academic culture in most African countries is significantly different from the Swiss culture. Foreign students might need to consider how long they are allowed to leave Switzerland for fieldwork in order to be able to return. Imported equipment might be seized by local authorities or the use of specific equipment (e.g. drones) might require extensive permits or supervision. However, different practices can improve fieldwork collaborations in the long term. These can include outreach activities at local institutions or within local communities, courtesy visits with local authorities, and meetings with local communities to incorporate indigenous knowledge.
Geoscience as a discipline is born out of a colonial history (Rogers et al., 2022: “Geology uprooted! Decolonising the curriculum for geologists”; https://www.decolearthsci.com). Under Neo-Colonialism, former colonial powers, i.e. economically more developed countries, typically in the global north, are exploiting economically less developed countries, typically in the global south, and export capital.
Helicopter- or parachute science is one symptom of neo-colonialism in geosciences. Researchers from economically wealthier countries conduct fieldwork in economically poorer countries with little or no involvement of local scientists or without acknowledgement of the contribution of local researchers, guides and land owners. Often samples are sent out of the country of origin without the involvement and agreement of the people or country of origin. This is common practice but inherently exploitative.
Numerous examples of neo-colonialism can be found in the geoscience literature (e.g., Pickering et al., 2023. “How language can be a path away from neo-colonialism in geosciences”). For example, regions are referred to by outdated colonial names (e.g., “East Africa” instead of Eastern Africa) or the entire African continent is treated as a coherent unit (e.g., “African Humid Period” instead of North African humid phase). In volcanology research, 40 % of the literature is published without contribution of locally domiciled authors (Lerner et al., 2023. “How inclusive is volcanology? Insights from global bibliometric analyses”).
Decolonizing is the active resistance against colonial powers, ongoing colonialism and colonial mentalities, by shifting towards political, economic, educational and cultural independence originating from a nation’s indigenous culture (https://www.racialequitytools.org/glossary). Therefore, decolonization is intrinsically linked to human rights and social justice.
For geosciences this means to take steps towards equitable participation at every stage of research: study design, funding acquisition, sample and data collection, data analysis, publication and media/public outreach. For this, it is important to build local capacities and foster meaningful, long-term research collaborations. To create inclusive geosciences, we do not only need to ask who plans and conducts the research, but also who is recognised for this research, where are samples stored/exhibited, what is considered as scientific knowledge, and are indigenous voices heard and indigenous rights considered? Most of all, this requires self-reflection and an acknowledgement of individual biases, white privilege and the connection between scientist and science that they produce, together with institutional change.
What we can do to actively work against neo-colonialism and make sustainable changes, is to work together at every level of research. We need to recognise and acknowledge outdated colonial language with the ultimate aim of replacing it. This requires us to challenge our own biases as well as institutionalized racism and colonial structures. This allows us to preserve the integrity of future research and work towards more inclusive practices. For this purpose, the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) developed the KFPE guide, a good tool to facilitate intercultural research, which can be used when planning and conducting collaborative studies (https://11principles.org/).
Speakers Robyn Pickering and Chinwe Ifejika Sperenza recommended books, websites, and podcasts to learn more about the history of our research field and the privileges that some enjoy.
Books and articles:
- Rogers, S. L., Lau, L., Dowey, N., Sheikh, H., & Williams, R. (2022). Geology uprooted! Decolonising the curriculum for geologists. Geoscience Communication, 5(3), 189-204. https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-5-189-2022
- Pickering, R., Ervens, B., Jesus-Rydin, C., et al. (2023). How language can be a path away from neo-colonialism in geoscience. Nature Geoscience, 16(12), 1071-1072. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01337-6
- Lerner, G. A., Williams, G. T., Meredith, E. S., Jenkins, S. F., & Barclay, J. (2023). How inclusive is volcanology? Insights from global bibliometric analyses. Volcanica, 6(1), 77-94. https://doi.org/10.30909/vol.06.01.7794
- Ackermann, R., Athreya, S., Black, W., Humphreys, R., Pickering, R., Sahle, Y., & Schroeder, L. (2018). Paleoanthropology: Decolonizing and Building for the Future. The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea2549
- Christa Kuljian (2016). Darwin’s Hunch: Science, Race and the Search for Human Origins.
- Robin DiAngelo (2018). White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.
- Kathy Obear (2017). … But I’m NOT Racist!: Tools for Weel-Meaning Whites.