The thesis that universities are increasingly under the influence of ideologies claiming to be left-wing or claiming to be progressive is gaining credibility.
The phenomenon is not limited to the social sciences and would even affect the natural sciences, particularly biology, as well as popular science.
And a disturbing event has just occurred in anthropology which gives credence to this idea.
On the anthropology side…
On November 19, in Toronto, the American Anthropological Association and the Canadian Anthropological Society were to hold a panel on the importance of the “sex” category in anthropology. His title : ” Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby: Why biological sex remains a necessary analytic category in anthropology “. (This title is a nod to a pop song…) Quebec anthropologist Michèle Sirois was to take part.
But on September 25, the panelists were informed that the event, already moved to the very end of the day, where it was likely to be poorly attended, was canceled, citing the fact that “the expression of ideas put forward could harm members trans and LGBTQI of the anthropological community and beyond”.
This decision is surprising to say the least, especially if we remember the crucial importance of biological sex in a discipline like anthropology.
Whether we are left-wing or not, we should agree that we should never prohibit the discussion of certain subjects that science must address, even less by invoking a possible discomfort that some would feel when hearing this discussion. — that nothing forces them to hear. In science, the search for truth is more important than adherence to doctrine and should always take precedence over it.
Some people think that abuses of this kind, which have been increasing for years, do not really have effects outside the university walls. These people are seriously wrong, and the effects of these mistakes sometimes ripple throughout society.
Here is a first example, this time in psychology, in the United States, based on a very recent work, Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology: Nature, Scope, and Solutionswhich looks at the effects of ideological and political biases.
…psychology…
The numerous (and often prestigious) authors of this immense book (over 900 pages) argue that ideological and political biases exist in psychology, and that these have serious distorting effects on what is studied, published and recommended in practice. Basically, the very, very large majority of researchers and academics in psychology in this country are left-wing, which does not pose a problem in itself, but would influence their research work, the interpretation of their results and even their teachings.
The arguments and studies supporting this thesis are numerous, and I will not allow myself to judge them and even less to say that this conclusion also applies to us. But this has, of course, possible and sometimes serious repercussions in practice and on all of us.
Ideas like the implicit biases that a widely used test that reveals your supposed racism would measure are an example discussed at length. Others suggest that the very fashionable and famous equity, diversity and inclusion programs are not based on credible research and are not effective.
…and education
Something similar has also just happened in education.
Here, the very strong and very present ideological position can, in summary, be called “social constructivism”. It permeates many visions of education and corresponding practices and partly fuels opposition to evidence.
All of this had an impact on learning to read. Here, so-called semi-global, or balanced, methods fit well with this vision and are recommended, while so-called phonetic or syllabic methods, which are intended to be based on conclusive data, are opposed to it.
We have just learned that Teachers College in New York has just ended Lucy Calkins’ Reading and Writing Project. Through him, this researcher had an immense influence on learning to read, in the United States and also elsewhere.
But what she advocated, contested by supporters of the evidence and the syllabic method, was considered unfounded and ineffective, especially among children for whom learning to read is more difficult.
Victory, then. But at what cost for too many children?
A solution
What I advocate, namely the primacy of truth and the free discussion of all ideas, should go without saying and appeal to everyone, beyond the left-right divide. It should follow that we dare to speak and let people speak.
The book by CL Frisby and his collaborators makes a proposition on this subject as old as the Earth. We should, they say, work with people who don’t think like us. The next big reform of science would come through what they call “conflictual collaboration” (adversarial collaboration).
Do you think gender is a social construct? You work with a biologist who maintains the opposite! And vice versa.
A lecture
Frisby, CL, et al. (ed.), Ideological and Political Bias in Psychology: Nature, Scope, and SolutionsSpringer Nature, 2023.
Doctor of philosophy, doctor of education and columnist, Normand Baillargeon has written, directed or translated and edited more than seventy works.