Science in Resistance: The Scientist Rebellion for Climate Justice

Scientists around the world rise up for climate and ecological justice

In April 2022, hundreds of scientists rose in civil disobedience, breaking the law in more than twenty-eight countries. Risking arrest, they glued their hands to roads, blocked government and corporate buildings, and chained themselves to the White House fence. In Science in Resistance, Fernando Racimo provides a first-person account of the Scientist Rebellion, a growing international movement of researchers stepping beyond conventional roles to alert the public about the need for action in the climate emergency. Combining personal stories, interviews with frontline activists, and insights from research on direct action and academia, he explores the challenges scientists face when taking a stand for climate and social justice.

Reflecting on his role as a scientist-activist, Racimo describes how he came to be involved in the movement. He also explores the many ways in which academic institutions today are complicit in climate breakdown--whether by accepting funding from and collaborating with the very industries driving it, or by discouraging scientists from speaking up. Drawing on lessons from political science, psychology, ecology, sociology, and the history of science, he explains how academia can be transformed to become an actor for good in the emergency.

Fernando Racimo is Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolution at University of Copenhagen and a founding member of the Danish chapter of Scientist Rebellion.