Decolonizing physics should make us squirm

Originally published on Toward Decolonizing Physics

It pleases me to begin to see more people adopt the phrase “decolonizing physics” to signify a more radical approach to activism than “diversity and inclusion.” But while I’m overjoyed to see people willing to criticize mainstream diversity and inclusion movements, the casualness with which I’ve seen some people adopt this term (especially online) is disturbing.

Simply put: Those of us casually throwing the term “decolonizing” around should be careful what we’re actually advocating for. Decolonization ultimately aims to bring about nothing less than the de-occupation of Indigenous land and the restoration of Indigenous sovereignty. Moreover, I simultaneously disclaim my right as a white settler to determine or have veto power over what this actually looks like.

As a white US citizen, if I claim to fight decolonization, I am essentially advocating a world in which I am potentially rendered landless and stateless, with no guarantees I will be able to continue living here or engaging in my research. And yes, to be honest, this prospect terrifies me. It should terrify you too.

TLDR: Be careful what you wish for. Decolonizing physics is a movement that should make all non-Indigenous Americans, but especially white settlers like myself, deeply uncomfortable. Unless we wish to strip the term of its meaning, we must be careful to ensure we actually understand and desire what we’re advocating for!

OK, enough about decolonization in general. How does this apply to physics?

Let’s bar, for the remainder of this article, the possibility of a rebellion dismantling the United States (and other settler-colonial nations) or abolishing land ownership. What does it mean, then, to “decolonize physics”? After all, physics institutions do not in general own a large amount of land to repatriate, nor is it clear that dismantling our research efforts to achieve this would be a good idea. (Physics, though it often operates in tandem with US imperialism, is also one of the few realistic checks we have against colonization-induced disasters like climate change!)

As I see it – and as a non-Indigenous physicist, my perspective isn’t particularly final or valuable – “decolonizing physics” has to be, as of 2020, less a one-time transfer of land and more an ongoing mindset and behavior shift. Decolonizing physics must start with transforming ourselves and our institutions from symbiotic benefactors and enablers of the settler-colonial apparatus to an instrument that resists and, when possible, undercuts it. It is a tangible and living goal and philosophy to motivate both action and activism in the present and transformation in the future. (The Toward in “Toward Decolonizing Physics” was chosen to serve as a reminder of this!)

Under this lens, as I practice it, the primary differences between “diversity and inclusion” and “decolonization” in physics stem from the differing end goal. If my end goal is equality with pre-existing physicists, my theory and actions will at times be very different than if my end goal is Indigenous sovereignty (read: not my sovereignty).

Put another way: “Diversity and inclusion” is about achieving numerical equality and equitable treatment regardless of race, gender, and other identities. Often, this is interpreted to mean giving everyone the opportunity of equality with the most privileged (read: white male) colonizer. “Decolonization” will incidentally bring equality by tearing down white supremacy and the patriarchy – as these are ultimately grounded in philosophies and hegemonies imported by the colonizer – but takes aim fundamentally at the settler-colonial apparatus and thus is first and foremost about divestment of power. For instance, a “diversity and inclusion” perspective may encourage reform such that more female scientists to obtain DARPA grants. A “decolonization” perspective would instead work toward zero female scientists receiving DARPA funding (with any short-term gender equality measures only a stop-gap until we can shift how research is funded).

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are, of course, still meaningful and important goals. In fact, each of them falls naturally out of a framework built around decolonizing physics, if for no other reason than that decolonization naturally requires subverting colonizer ideologies of white supremacy and patriarchy. However, the converse is not true: naïve diversity and inclusion efforts do not necessarily bring about decolonization, and can easily strengthen the settler colonial project more than they undermine it. An obvious example is oSTEM, which promotes LGBT+ inclusion in science and engineering but whose lead sponsors include (at time of writing) the CIA, the NSA, and multiple defense contractors. The problem comes not from making diversity a goal per se, but from a singular focus on the physicist decoupled from the historical, anthropological, and settler-colonial positioning of physics as a whole.

Decolonizing Physics in Practice

I end for now with one more important point. Physicists must work against those areas of the settler-colonial state that our discipline provides us with access to. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, one of the leading voices in the movement to decolonize physics, focuses extensively on intellectual colonization for this reason:

“As for intellectual considerations, which as many of you know has been a
significant focus of mine, I possibly simply don’t agree with Tuck and Yang that settler colonialism can ever simply be reduced to land theft. Epistemic marginalization is part of how land theft is enforced and maintained … The denial of language and history is to me part of the colonial project — in part designed to minimize the possibility that people will feel empowered to push back against and end colonialism.”

There are certainly instances in which physicists intent on decolonization can act to stop land desecration or other obvious physical manifestations of colonization, such as with the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, and we must. (The relationship between the military and physics funding is another whole article by itself.) But with so many of us as members of the academy, the gatekeeper of knowledge in a colonized world, it is just as important that we focus on decolonizing how we view and disseminate knowledge. This can involve everything from acknowledging the non-European roots of the scientific method to dismantling systems that restrict access to knowledge to the settler in the “settler-native-slave” triad.

But for “intellectual decolonization” to not become a cop-out, we have to accept an even tougher pill to swallow: humility. Decolonizing epistemologies does not merely require settlers to facilitate Indigenous access to knowledge, but to disclaim ownership of it. For many of us, it means critically examining how, as settlers, our own claim to knowledge is immediately suspect given the intellectual machinations we have been taught to perform subconsciously to justify our domination in a homeland that isn’t ours. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein’s article on White Empiricism is a great way to start.

This, fundamentally, is why decolonizing physics should make us squirm. A “diversity and inclusion” mindset allows us to focus on the privilege deficits of ourselves and others. Decolonization forces us to confront head-on the privileges we should not have, starting from the land that so many of us occupy that is not rightfully ours. Especially for a white settler like myself, decolonization requires me to work foremost toward the diminuation and eventual destruction of the unjust privilege (up to and including occupation of the only land I know as my home, and my economic wellbeing) that I have been given. I must do this even as I get a constant reminder of my own marginalization as I face sexism and homophobia on a routine basis in my institution. It is a perspective that leaves no place for self-pity.

So yes, decolonizing physics scares me. It should scare me. And if you’re a settler like myself, it should scare the sh*t out of you too. Now let’s go make it happen!