[hackerspaces] Yet We Were Feminists

[justin corwin]

the phrase is "look beyond the scientific discourse centered on a panicking
West". Mbembe is not a luddite, but rather centers his critique of the
institutions of science. the ideals are lovely, but in this crisis we see
colonial, capitalist, and nationalist divides everywhere. Why is everyone
using different tests for COVID-19? because ownership of those tests and
patents is valuable. why is there a shortage of ventilators in the US?
because the manufacturers of them sabotaged attempts to build a strategic
reserve of them in the past, and made repair difficult. and on and on.

we can't expect science to save us on it's own, because it's dependent on
the institutions that fund and shape it, it isn't a neutral force. mbembe's
argument is that many of the crises we're seeing have happened before in
predatory crises in Africa (like holding AIDS drugs over the heads of poor
Africans with no choice but to pay) and we should learn from that.

On Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 7:04 AM Enrique <quique251 at disroot.org> wrote:

> Hello :)
>
> The spanish translation it's not very good (ser/estar), and it also uses
> the "x" as a "gender neutral" equivalent, wich is something that makes the
> text difficult to read, and it's also not needed, as the languaje already
> has a correct form for this.
>
> As for the text itself...
>
> I think the criticism of science is not fair. The scientifics are normal
> people, and they also live in our current capitalistic world, so it's
> inevitable that some bias passes trough. But they are also victims of the
> system, so the phrase "Scientific research knows only borders" it's at
> least very uninformed. I work in a research facility, and the number of
> languajes you can hear on a daily basis is very wide. In 10 years working
> there, I've met people from the 5 continents (majority of europeans, of
> course). The borders are imposed on science, it's not something they do
> because the want to.
>
> Also, I find the the last paragrahp disturbing. What I'm reading there,
> and correct me if I'm wrong, its basically a luddite manifesto. Yes, our
> current system is broken beyond repair, and we are facing a climate
> catastrophe caused by capitalism. But going back technologically and
> scientifically is not the answer. Science and technology don't mandate
> society's course, they follow it. I think this is missing who is the real
> enemy here.
>
> Best regards.
> Enrique
> El 31/3/20 a las 10:45, hellekin escribió:
>
> Hackerspaces are mentioned briefly in this firebrand text, on the
> forefront of self-organizing production of alternate DIY medical supplies.
> https://ps.zoethical.org/t/yet-we-were-feminists/3477
>
> Also available in Spanish athttps://ps.zoethical.org/t/ya-estabamos-feministas/3478
>
> (Please, if it's your native language, help check the translation
> against the French original below)
> https://ps.zoethical.org/t/pourtant-nous-etions-feministes/3476
>
> The author is Cced. Spread widely like the coronavirus!
>
>
> ==
> hk
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing listDiscuss at lists.hackerspaces.orghttp://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>


-- 
Justin Corwin
outlawpoet at gmail.com
http://programmaticconquest.tumblr.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20200331/56d00dcb/attachment.html>