Utopian Conservation
Scientific Humanism, Evolution, and Island Imaginaries on the Galápagos Islands
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5337604 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paolo Bocci (0000-0002-1181-8196, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1168-1194 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Science Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0162243919889135 |
| OpenAlex | W2989812872 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 56 |
In 1959, the Charles Darwin Station and the Galápagos National Park were established, formally inaugurating conservation on the archipelago. In the same year, a utopian colony from the United States arrived. Whereas scholars have dismissed the latter and focused on the former, this essay unveils the science-inspired utopianism common to both enterprises. Investing science with the exclusive role of producing all knowledge and steering politics, leaders of the two initiatives aspired not only to protect nature but also to forge a new humanity. Describing how such ambitions burst along lines of race, class, and nationality, I argue that these enterprises consolidated the current understanding of the Galápagos as "pristine": a site fit for research and tourism but unhospitable to (other) people. Drawing on archival and historical documents, this essay aims to reinvigorate two conversations: one between science and technology studies (STS) and conservation, and the other between STS and utopian studies. If recent attempts at bridging the divide between science and imagination have emphasized how powerful actors shape human society, this essay considers the long-lasting effects of scientific imaginaries on a politics of nature
Archaeology · Archipelago · Environmental ethics · Geography · Humanism · Humanity · Immigration · Nationality · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Tourism · Utopia · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Philosophy
Perfecting Human Futures
Entangled Geographies
Imposing Wilderness
Conservation Planning for Ecosystem Services
Rethinking biodiversity
Socialism
Utopia/Dystopia
Dystopia
Reimagining Political Ecology
Dreamscapes of Modernity
States of Knowledge
Utopia as Method
Local Histories/Global Designs
Development and the “Indian Problem” in the Cold War Andes
Village Models
Socialities of Nature Beyond Utopia
Social Dimensions of ′Nature at Risk′ in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Julian Huxley and the Continuity of Eugenics in Twentieth-century Britain
Utopianism in the British evolutionary synthesis
Proving Grounds
Bad Weather
At home in the postcolony
The Fifth Branch
Unesco
The Galapagos Expedition
The Molecular Turn in Conservation
The everyday lives of energy transitions
The politics of a natural laboratory
Natural Resources by Numbers
The Pursuit of Ecotopia
Liminal Lives
Transcending Without Transcendence
Unesco and the (One) World of Julian Huxley
Introduction
Multiplanetary Imaginaries and Utopia
Epistemic Commitments
"Primitives" and Protected Areas
Rethinking the Galapagos Islands as a Complex Social-Ecological System
Planting the Seeds of the Future
Vicos as Cold War Strategy
The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies
Primate Visions
Tangles of Care
The myth of isolates
Green Grabbing
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2022 (2) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |