The scientific community blasted UMKC for inviting Shiva and paying her somewhere between $40,000 and $100,000 for an hour-long presentation. The university effectively subsidized the spread of demonstrable nonsense under the guise of promoting social justice and environmentalism. An open letter to the school’s chancellor signed by dozens of experts outline the problems with Shiva’s inflammatory rhetoric, including her habit of comparing GE crop cultivation to rape:
She compares farmers, who grow crops which are scientifically and legally recognized as safe, to rapists! It’s a grotesque insult to millions of honest workers who use modern technologies to farm more sustainably and efficiently. Understandably, her outrageous abuse raised many angry reactions ….
Shiva’s UMKC lecture raises a number of crucial questions about the role universities and other public institutions play in sustaining fringe environmental activism. Should taxpayer-subsidized schools spend a king’s ransom on speakers who promulgate dubious ideas? Should activists so far outside the scientific mainstream even be allowed on university campuses? There must be some way to balance an individual’s right to free speech against the potentially harmful impacts of their message. How do we do it?
Join geneticist Kevin Folta and GLP contributor Cameron English on this episode of Science Facts and Fallacies as they answer these questions and examine Shiva’s UMKC lecture.
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Recommended Twitter follows: @drvandanashiva and @David Zaruk
Kevin M. Folta is a professor, keynote speaker and podcast host. Follow Professor Folta on Twitter @kevinfolta
Cameron J. English is the director of bio-sciences at the American Council on Science and Health. Visit his website and follow ACSH on Twitter @ACSHorg
