Science Violence

The use of scientific authority, language, or institutional power to harm, silence, or exclude individuals or groups. Science violence can be physical (e.g., forced medical procedures justified by “science”), psychological (e.g., being called “delusional” for spiritual beliefs), or structural (e.g., denying indigenous land rights because oral traditions are “unscientific”). It often operates under a veneer of neutrality and progress, making it difficult to recognize as violence. Science violence is particularly insidious because it uses the prestige of science to legitimize harm.

Example: “The state used ‘scientific forestry’ to evict indigenous communities, claiming their traditional practices were ‘unscientific’—science violence, using expertise as a weapon of dispossession.”

Science Alienation

The sense of exclusion, inadequacy, or illegitimacy experienced by individuals or groups who do not see themselves reflected in scientific institutions, narratives, or worldviews. Science alienation can affect people from non‑Western cultures whose knowledge systems are dismissed, women and minorities who face barriers in scientific careers, or anyone who feels that science’s materialist framework leaves no room for their spiritual or emotional lives. It results in a withdrawal from science, not because of anti‑intellectualism, but because science has been presented as hostile to their identity and experience.

Example: “She loved nature but felt she couldn’t study biology because the department mocked her interest in traditional ecological knowledge—science alienation, being made to choose between her heritage and a scientific career.”

Science Violence by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 16, 2026