What has Feminism got to offer science and policy-making in the mid 21^st century?  It’s a really good question.  Surely it’s only a pre-occupation of “middle class women of a certain age”?  So many more us are wrestling with the immediacy of health and care systems overflowing with unmet needs; all sorts of industries from creative through to product design cutting back on jobs and investments affecting all age groups; and don’t even talk about climate. But it’s precisely these concerns that logically – in the minds of a growing set of thinkers – ought to lead us to notice how short our systems of governance fall from the knowledge, skills and understanding we need to address these pervasive issues.   

In any social movement that recognises the deficiencies of existing forms of organising – of which Feminism is one – we have the possibilities of paying attention to this systemic cognitive dissonance.  That the ways of knowing and understanding the world around us, that we have known for so long to be true and have invented so many of our cultural norms, are no longer fit for purpose.  In the world of science and policy-making, I – and others – observe that we have this dissonance in how we talk about these systemic issues.  That technically we understand that they require novel ways into practice, that hold the frame of experimentation; because whilst we can’t predict which actions will cause bigger changes, we are able to act in ways that create the conditions for transformative possibilities.  

But our existing forms of governing and organising science and policy pre-empt a far more narrow set of questions to use when we gather and analyse evidence that is considered to be practical, legitimate and worthwhile.  In this longer article for the Journal of Futures Studies I’ve set out my story of what we need to be paying attention to, and what a Feminist alternative looks like.  It matters because whilst we have a technical understanding of how to work on societal issues such as how we care for each other in places that are adapting to climate change, action in practice is being constrained by resistance to more pluralistic approaches that are agnostic to power.  Feminists can help.  But it requires an orientation towards the underlying patterns that may serve many very well. 

“They” are not wrong:  having a voice in situations of sexual violence in its many many forms is not a given.  We are here with the progress that the waves of activists have made possible with sacrifice and solidarity.  How we use that voice is so important.  Perhaps it is a bit niche to make the case for feminists to use their voices in policy-making.  But action on socially just change hasn’t kept pace with global intent.  We need to change what we pay attention to.  Feminists have a role to play.