ABSTRACT
What is the relationship between science and social justice? Science is a resource, a source of power for supporting decisions, for categorizing, and for revealing levers of action. As such, it is a matter of justice how this resource is distributed. The history of science over the past century reveals many ways in which the pursuit of science can be unjust as well as ways it can be part of the pursuit of a more just society. I will describe aspects of science and justice in the access to science, the use of human subjects, the relationship with communities, and the shaping of the research agenda. This overview will be used to show that the values that drive research agendas are not just an ethical and epistemic matter but also a matter of social justice. Scientists and philosophers of science need to attend both to values in science and to power in order to address the pervasive issues of justice in the practice of science.
Readers may be interested in these Handbook chapters as well: David B. Resnik, “Values and Dual Use Biomedical Research”; Jamie Shaw, “The Values of Science Funding Institutions”; Alexander Tolbert, “Algorithmic Abolitionism and The Racial Algorithm.”
