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Commentary: Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

Bluwstein, Jevgeniy ; Asiyanbi, Adeniyi ; Dutta, Anwesha ; Huff, Amber ; Lund, Jens Friis ; De Rosa, Salvatore Paolo LU orcid and Steinberger, Julia (2021) In Frontiers in Conservation Science 2.
Abstract
Bradshaw et al. (2021) make a call to action in light of three major crises—biodiversity loss, the sixth mass extinction, and climate disruption. We have no contention with Bradshaw et al.’s diagnosis of the severity of the crises. Yet, their call for scientists to “tell it like it is,” their appeal to political “leaders,” and the great attention they afford to human population growth as a main driver underpinning the three crises, rest on contested assumptions about the role of science in societal transformations, and are scientifically flawed and politically problematic. In this commentary, we challenge Bradshaw et al.’s assumptions concerning the nature of science, polity, and humanity as well as the implicit politics underlying their... (More)
Bradshaw et al. (2021) make a call to action in light of three major crises—biodiversity loss, the sixth mass extinction, and climate disruption. We have no contention with Bradshaw et al.’s diagnosis of the severity of the crises. Yet, their call for scientists to “tell it like it is,” their appeal to political “leaders,” and the great attention they afford to human population growth as a main driver underpinning the three crises, rest on contested assumptions about the role of science in societal transformations, and are scientifically flawed and politically problematic. In this commentary, we challenge Bradshaw et al.’s assumptions concerning the nature of science, polity, and humanity as well as the implicit politics underlying their analysis and messaging. We end with an alternative call to action. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Frontiers in Conservation Science
volume
2
article number
666910
publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85144152944
ISSN
2673-611X
DOI
10.3389/fcosc.2021.666910
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
1b41b1d9-9aff-4409-9ac4-27a9020e2d62
date added to LUP
2021-05-13 14:45:25
date last changed
2024-01-21 04:15:36
@misc{1b41b1d9-9aff-4409-9ac4-27a9020e2d62,
  abstract     = {{Bradshaw et al. (2021) make a call to action in light of three major crises—biodiversity loss, the sixth mass extinction, and climate disruption. We have no contention with Bradshaw et al.’s diagnosis of the severity of the crises. Yet, their call for scientists to “tell it like it is,” their appeal to political “leaders,” and the great attention they afford to human population growth as a main driver underpinning the three crises, rest on contested assumptions about the role of science in societal transformations, and are scientifically flawed and politically problematic. In this commentary, we challenge Bradshaw et al.’s assumptions concerning the nature of science, polity, and humanity as well as the implicit politics underlying their analysis and messaging. We end with an alternative call to action.}},
  author       = {{Bluwstein, Jevgeniy and Asiyanbi, Adeniyi and Dutta, Anwesha and Huff, Amber and Lund, Jens Friis and De Rosa, Salvatore Paolo and Steinberger, Julia}},
  issn         = {{2673-611X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  publisher    = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
  series       = {{Frontiers in Conservation Science}},
  title        = {{Commentary: Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2021.666910}},
  doi          = {{10.3389/fcosc.2021.666910}},
  volume       = {{2}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}