5.- Moving away from the Eurocentric narrative

2023/06/07 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Ingurumena
• Dekalogoa

The science we transmit is fundamentally Eurocentric. It often disregards many and varied realities of the world; the issues it raises are not significant for three-quarters of the world. Western science is therefore not a universal science.

His Eurocentric vision is deeply framed in the alignment of European projects financed by political interests; his scientific questions and the way the world is interpreted are Eurocentrists. As a communicator, it is important to identify these Eurocentric narratives and not turn them into their loudspeaker. And to point out the injustices of many of them.

For example, if the green economy is to make sense, it must be established on a small scale. Globally, it's not sustainable. The renunciation of the Eurocentric vision implies the consideration of other cultures and opinions of the world when identifying problems and proposing solutions. Pay attention to the fact that the discourse being disseminated does not perpetuate the structural social injustices on which the environmental emergency is based. It can, among other things, justify green colonialism. When deciding to protect 30 per cent of the land area, for example, it is important to bear in mind that protection does not have to involve the expulsion of indigenous people from the site, which would be to repeat historical injustices against them. On the contrary, we must opt for a model of protection that includes indigenous people, as it has been shown that their lifestyle is a guarantee for the conservation of biodiversity.