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How language can be a path away from neo-colonialism in geoscience

Dismantling oppressive colonial structures and challenging institutionalized racism are vital actions needed to preserve the integrity of future research. This stems from the deep-seated framework in which research, including geoscience, is conducted: colonialism and colonial thinking1. This thinking regards places like Africa, Asia and South America as vast, homogenous, un- or sparsely inhabited, so-called ‘terra nullius’2,3, and was used to justify the colonial invasion, dispossession, and subjugation of the local people3. The long-term result of colonialism is institutionalized inequality, such as exploiting and excluding local scientists and communities, known colloquially as ‘helicopter science’4. This practice, which remains widespread across geoscience, is a form of neo-colonialism, where the former colonizers benefit at the expense of the formally colonized.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Robyn Pickering

  2. National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Institute of Chemistry of Clermont-Ferrand, University Clermont Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Barbara Ervens

  3. European Geosciences Union, Munich, Germany

    Barbara Ervens, Lisa Wingate, Anouk Beniest & Giuliana Panieri

  4. European Research Council (ERC), Brussels, Belgium

    Claudia Jesus-Rydin

  5. INRAE, ISPA, Villenave D’Ornon, France

    Lisa Wingate

  6. Department of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Anouk Beniest

  7. Iziko Museum of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

    Nkosingiphile Mazibuko & Amy Sephton

  8. Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway Department of Geosciences, Tromsø, Norway

    Giuliana Panieri

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  1. Robyn Pickering
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Robyn Pickering.

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Pickering, R., Ervens, B., Jesus-Rydin, C. et al. How language can be a path away from neo-colonialism in geoscience.
Nat. Geosci. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01337-6

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  • Published: 30 November 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01337-6

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