A related question would be, given the views of the author, would any
institution now invite him to an event to publicise his book?

(speaking in a personal capacity)

Anne Locker 
IET Archivist 
The Institution of Engineering and Technology 
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-----Original Message-----
From: Promoting discussion in the science studies community
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Andy Hammond
Sent: 18 October 2007 16:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: cancelling on Jim Watson

Just a couple of quick points.

1 Why should it be assumed that a protest is likely to be 
violent/intimidating etc?

2 Why should the debate get stuck on Watson? The media have put this 
particular incident under the spotlight. After responding to it we move
on 
After all, there will be other occassions when we need to respond.

3 Is the Science Museum the right place?  At the risk of self
plagiarism, I 
stated "The (capitalist) media have made the Science Museum meeting an
issue 
(rather than the 'Watson Tour' as such).  So the spotlight is on this
event 
and how
we respond to it."  It's not simply a case of whether the Science Museum
is 
the right venue/best venue for such a discussion. We can't always choose
the 
ground we fight on. In this instance, the media have effectively made
the 
Science Museum the venue... and someone was left with the unenviable job
of 
making a decision on the issue.

Finally, I'd like to thank Joe for instigating this discussion.
Hopefully it 
will get us started on thinking about appropriate responses over future 
incidents.
Andy Hammond
Honorary Research Fellow
STS
UCL

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "alice bell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:32 PM
Subject: Re: cancelling on Jim Watson


>I still don't see why the Science Museum has to be a place for that
> sort of discussion if it doesn't want to. It may hold other events on
> the topic of science and race, and has done in the past. But that
> doesn't mean it has to do so within the context of Watson promoting
> his book. "The categories we use when speaking about people" (as Joe
> neatly put it) is a horrible, huge, messy and emotive issue - yes I
> personally think more people should talk about it, but can't you see
> why the Sci Mus would rather not get involved in this particular
> framing of it? A protest would have more effects than just "give
> Watson the message" - it might well have intimidated other people -
> from the museum, from discussing science, or from talking about race.
>
> Similarly, all for standing up against racism in academia Andy - but
> don't you think targeting Watson specifically might get stuck in a
> rather unproductive, defensive binary fight (rather than diffuse,
> thoughtful, multi-actor discussion) which ultimately ends up promoting
> his book more than it does the issue?
>
> Alice
>
> On 18/10/2007, Andy Hammond <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Basically I'm in agreement with Joe. A few further comments...
>>
>> The basic issue here is, how do we combat racism?
>>
>> The (capitalist) media have made the Science Museum meeting an issue 
>> (rather
>> than the 'Watson Tour' as such).  So the spotlight is on this event
and 
>> how
>> we respond to it.  Cancelling the meeting is a lost opportunity.
Watson
>> should have been allowed to speak... to confirm or deny what the
media 
>> claim
>> he said, and to let others challenge him from the floor about his
claims
>> (and about so called 'scientific' support for racism). This should
have 
>> been
>> backed up by a protest (banners etc) outside the museum against
racism. 
>> Size
>> of the protest outside would not be of paramount importance.  The
fact 
>> that
>> protest would be inside and outside the meeting could have been used
as a
>> challenge to the media to turn up and allow the other side of the
story 
>> to
>> be told. It would also have been seen by many people as a refreshing 
>> change
>> to see 'experts' getting out from behind their desks and engaging
with 
>> what
>> people see as 'real' issues.
>> There is an important role for the University Unions in such
activities
>> (UCU, UNISON, etc). After all, unoin members from all sorts of 
>> backgrounds
>> are affected by such irresponsible pronouncements that Watson seems
to 
>> have
>> made.
>>
>> At the very least, anyone in the vicinity should go along to the
Wellcome
>> event and try to object to Watson in person. If they can't get to
speak 
>> to
>> him then let others know their views at the event. The latter will
feed 
>> back
>> to him... he'll get the message.
>>
>> Perhaps a small protest at each Tour date?
>>
>> Andy Hammond
>> Honorary Research Fellow
>> STS
>> UCL
>
>
> -- 
> Alice Bell BSc MA
> Research Postgraduate, Science Communication Group
> Imperial College, London
> college homepage: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/alice.bell
> knit blog: http://slippedstitch.blogspot.com/
> 

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