For the first time,
this book compiles original documents from Science for the People,
the most important radical science movement in U.S. history. Between
1969 and 1989, Science for the People mobilized American scientists,
teachers, and students to practice a socially and economically just
science, rather than one that served militarism and corporate
profits. Through research, writing, protest, and organizing, members
sought to demystify scientific knowledge and embolden "the
people" to take science and technology into their own hands. The
movement's numerous publications were crucial to the formation of
science and technology studies, challenging mainstream understandings
of science as "neutral" and instead showing it as
inherently political. Its members, some at prominent universities,
became models for politically engaged science and scholarship by
using their knowledge to challenge, rather than uphold, the social,
political, and economic status quo.
Highlighting Science
for the People's activism and intellectual interventions in a range
of areas—including militarism, race, gender, medicine, agriculture,
energy, and global affairs—this volume offers vital contributions
to today's debates on science, justice, democracy, sustainability,
and political power.