Love, politics and science education on a damaged planet

they fed me one story

then another,

spinning it

until

it became

the unraveling ball of wool,

it always was.

white lies are like that.

(Leanne Simpson, Islands of Decolonial Love,

A love song for Attawapiskat 2015)

Abstract

This article attempts to add to the conversation on equity and science education by arguing that activist work necessitates turning away from conservative fields of research that only forward the agenda of national governments/patriarchy/white supremacy/capital, and turning toward larger sociopolitical movements and non-dominant forms of knowledge that can help communities move toward multi-species flourishing. Building on the work of Chantal Pouliot, who argues that academics have a key role to play in environmental and social issues of public concern, we argue that engaging larger systemic contexts is absolutely necessary when educating for different futures. Specifically, we extend the use of Sheila Jasanoff’s (Science and public reason, Routledge, New York, 2012a. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203113820; Sheila Jasanoff’s in: Rajan (ed) Lively capital: biotechnologies, ethics, and governance in global markets, Duke University Press, Durham, pp. 155–183, 2012b. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822393306-005) work that demonstrates how modern Western law and governance specifically aim to take common, “natural” spaces and turn them into profit/capital. We conclude by suggesting that a politics of love can become a guiding force for justice-oriented scholarship in science education.