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<p>We are a group of 50+ people who are coming together to plan a
conference on the <strong>history </strong>of the organization
Science for the People and the <strong>future </strong>of
science activism, to be held <strong><span style="color:
#ff0000;">11-13 April 2014 at UMass Amherst</span></strong>.
Some of us are former members of the original 1970s-1980s
organization; some are currently active participants in the
current Science for the People list-serv; some are historians or
sociologists of science interested in the legacy of Science for
the People.</p>
<p>See the future post-conference website <a title="Science for the
People post-conference website"
href="http://science-for-the-people.org/conference.htm"
target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Science for the People: The
1970s and Today</strong></h4>
<h5 align="CENTER">A 3-Day Conference (11-13 April 2014) at UMass
Amherst</h5>
<h5 align="CENTER">Hosted by the Social Thought & Political
Economy Program</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">Co-Sponsors:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">UMass Units: History Department;
College of Humanities and Fine Arts; Afro-American Studies
Department; Economics Department; School of Education; Political
Science Department; Science, Technology, and Society Initiative;
Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Program</p>
<p>Other Five-College Units: Hampshire College Dean of Faculty;
Hampshire College School of Critical Social Inquiry; Hampshire
College School of Natural Science; Smith College History of
Science</p>
<p align="CENTER">***************************************</p>
<p>This conference on the history of the 1970s-1980s organization
Science for the People (SftP) and its implications for science
activism today will bring together veteran members of the
organization along with other scientists, Science and Technology
Studies (STS) scholars, science activists, graduate students, and
undergraduates. The conference will include keynote speakers
representing SftP and STS perspectives, panels on the historical
and sociological significance of SftP, and panels on approaches to
issues (e.g., energy policy, agricultural science and food
justice, and the scientific construction of race and gender) that
SftP addressed and that our society continues to face now.</p>
<p>Science for the People arose out of the anti-war movement during
the Vietnam War era. With a Marxist analysis and non-hierarchical
governing structure, SftP tackled the militarization of scientific
research, the corporate control of research agendas, the political
implications of sociobiology theories, environmental consequences
of energy policy, inequalities in health care, and many other
issues. Its members opposed racism, sexism, and classism in
science and above all sought to mobilize people working in
scientific fields to become active in agitating for science,
technology, and medicine that would serve social needs rather than
military and corporate interests. They organized in universities
and communities, published a magazine offering sharp political
analysis, and sought meaningful scientific exchange
internationally in Vietnam, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, and other
countries.</p>
<p>Some of the issues we face today have changed in important ways,
but fundamental questions of power, ideology, and democracy in
science remain. The time is ripe to gather SftP veterans with
other scientists, activists, students, and STS scholars in an
exploration of what the history of SftP can teach us. Scientists
need to develop more effective analyses of the social and
political causes of the problems they seek to address. Activists
need to obtain a better grasp of the scientific dimensions of
their causes and a clearer sense of who their allies are in the
scientific world. Students need to learn strategies for putting
their science education to work in ways consistent with their
social and political goals. And STS scholars need to deepen our
understanding of an organization that had an important, though
under-acknowledged, early influence on our field and to explore
how re-establishing engagement with activist scientists might
enrich our own research and writing.<br>
</p>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://science-for-the-people.org/">http://science-for-the-people.org/</a><br>
<br>
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