Decolonise UoM

It seems as though so many conversations about decolonising the curriculum, be it in universities, or in schools, centre on humanities subjects. Recent examples that spring to mind are conversations about decolonising the canon of Literature courses by diversifying reading lists; or focusing on the missing perspectives in History lessons by trying to teach children about the British Empire and its activities in schools. These initiatives are crucial. But as I took my first steps into academic roles, both in teaching at university, and conducting research as a PhD candidate in History of Science, I’ve realised that we need to focus on decolonising science education too.     My experiences as an educator thus far have highlighted the difficulties that follow the way we teach students about the scientific method. We teach students in primary school that science is not about feelings, but that it’s objective; it’s based in facts; it’s something that can be controlled, so...

Carceral feminism is the reliance of the state’s apparatus as an avenue for protection, and thus, equality. It is outraged by the number of rape convictions, and demands more severe prosecutions, greater numbers of police, and believes imprisonment can achieve feminist aims. At its most sinister, carceral feminism witnesses the death of George Floyd, and demands bigger budgets for the police for reform. It watches the calls of Joe Biden to ‘aim for the leg not the heart’, and the officers kneeling with protesters, and feels reassured. It accepts the notion that the lives of black women can be sacrificed for white women to feel safer. Carceral feminism is the enemy of intersectional feminism. It ignores the ways in which race, class, gender identity, and immigration status leave certain women more vulnerable to violence and that criminalisation and imprisonment places these same women at risk of violence from the state. Abolitionist feminism calls for liberation of all women and margina...