Week 5 (+2)…I guess it’s been a minute
The most significant shift in my understanding of society has come from the Coloniality course. The readings and discussions frequently come back to the concepts of and processes of social categorization and othering, and the reciprocal reinforcement between them.
During the intensive of this class, there was a little field trip over to the local Planetarium. Many of us online had a different experience from those in person. For me the experience was more auditory than visual – which allowed me to hyper-focus on the comments of the live host. One thing that struck me was when the host dismissed a question about Pluto, because “there are only eight planets in our solar system.” Don’t worry, the current Pluto-is-not-a-planet time we are in now is not breaking news for me, but I did live most of my life in the Pluto-is-a-planet time, so maybe I have a bit of a soft plot for what happened to Pluto.
In case you don’t know about Pluto’s rapid rise and fall from fame, in 1930 it was classified as a planet and for several decades got to do regular planet stuff like be listed in textbooks alongside the other planets, be featured on posters and bob around on the outer circumference of solar system mobiles. But as scientists updated their information about Pluto’s actual size and other aspects of its surroundings, they decided they weren’t so impressed…and the scientific community began to debate whether it was a true planet. The saga ends in 2006, when the scientific community decides to add a qualification to planet categorization de-classified Pluto to dwarf planet. No more textbooks, posters or bobbing around on mobiles. Humiliating, right?
Back to the point. Science is a human construct, through which we try to uncover the inherent ‘truth’ of our surroundings and selves. But that truth is ever shifting as we continuously change the rules to build the categories we want to apply. It’s not always nefarious but sometimes othering is built into science and the many other forms of life’s architecture, a bit like changing the clubhouse membership requirements to keep out the weird kids. Sorry Billy, we’d let you in, but the rules say no weird kids allowed.
Don’t worry, I still very much buy into the process of science and am well aware that Pluto doesn’t care what we on earth call her. But we on earth care what others call us and I’m just a little more clear on the processes behind those categorizations and consequences of them.
Have you read the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot? That was my big eye-opening ‘a-ha’ moment a few years ago of “science is just as imperfect as people because people made science.”
Yes, I loved that book. But I read it in 2011 and since Darcie mentioned it too, I’m inspired to give it a re-read over the holiday break! The main things that hit me the first time were: the deceit and lack of consent in the process of taking a part of her (and many others) bodies. The targeting based on ethnicity, gender, socio-econ class, education class? (doctors and higher-educated having so much more power). And finally, the gratitude and attribution owed for this unwilling contribution to science – in a way that one awesome book doesn’t cover. In other words, all sorts of stuff that goes with the focus of our program. My recollection is old, so I’m curious if you had different / additional takeaways for me to think about as I read.
I really enjoyed your story about Pluto and the social construct of science and other things. The part about Pluto really made my day!