Seminar: Racial Capitalism and the Geographies of Environmental Citizen Science
Citizen science has the potential to engage non-scientists in research, fostering greater public understanding of scientific processes. Its use in gathering large-scale data across diverse geographic regions has led to significant advancements in fields such as precipitation modeling, biodiversity tracking, and species migration studies. Simultaneously, new research highlights the interconnected geography of humans, society, and ecological systems.
This raises a key question: if nature is socially produced, what is the geography of environmental citizen science data? Given that society is shaped by the logics of racial capitalism, it is crucial to consider the implications of unmanaged citizen science projects on the knowledge they produce. Could citizen science unintentionally reinforce existing social hierarchies? This talk draws on insights from economic geography and the emerging subfield of critical GIS to explore these issues, with the goal of ensuring that citizen science contributes to the pursuit of emancipatory and liberatory futures.
Contact and booking details
- Name
- Dr. Beki McElvain
- Email address
- B.McElvain@lboro.ac.uk
- Booking required?
- No