Page 201 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

178 A. Sharma

accompanying countering response of grassroots globalization. We often tend to
limit our vision to the immediacy of our work as it is something over which we have
some measure of agency and control. As educators and researchers, we feel that
even if we are able to influence a few minds, our work would be worthwhile and
we are contributing to social change – one person at a time. That certainly may be
the case. However, while each of us is doing his/her own little work, the forces of
global capitalism are wreaking havoc on entire communities that live on the mar-
gins of our societies at a pace and scale that is as awe inspiring as it is repugnant.
It is about time we began to think about how our work links and contributes to
countering the destructive social change induced by rampant unchecked global
capital and contributes to nurturing of practices that enable everyone to live with
peace, justice, and dignity.
In this response, I have tried to offer some possibilities that may help us become
an important, even if small, part of the emerging solution to the problem of global-
ization from above. I believe these possibilities manifest themselves in the field of
(science) education as much, if not more, as in sustainable agriculture. Global capi-
talism thrives by isolating and atomizing individuals, families, and communities
into manageable, fungible units for exploitation. The need then is to come together
in solidarity with the oppressed and on a shared platform of progressive, nonviolent
social change and justice.

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