In 1969, a group of scientists opposed to the US war on Vietnam formed an organization committed to the practice of science to serve the people and not profit. The group started a magazine, Science for the People, which became the flagship publication of the radical science movement, publishing through 1989. They challenged the militarization and corporate control of scientific research and practices, fought racism and sexism in science, and mobilized fellow workers to agitate for science, technology, and medicine to serve social needs.
In 2014, activists across the United States and Mexico began to rebuild the organization, with local chapters and working groups. The magazine was relaunched in 2019, run by volunteer labor in pursuit of science and society free from the shackles of capital. The organization was invigorated by the older generation whose long organizing efforts brought principles of radical science to those working to understand and transform the world today. Here we honor some of the many people involved.
John Vandermeer, Donna Haraway, Stephen Jay Guild, Richard Levins, Ivette Perfecto, Sam Anderson, Richard Lewontin, Ruth Hubbard, Chandler Davis
This CPH poster printed at the worker-owned and union-run Community Printers, Santa Cruz, CA.
This is #201 in the Celebrate People’s History Poster Series.
