Class Nature of Science and its Education

The frontiers of science move only as we resolve our contradiction with nature. This constant struggle between us and the nature pushes the knowledge content of the society; but this struggle takes place at different epoch at different levels of the development of the productive forces. But as we know, the development of the productive forces itself depends on the production relations at any stage of history. This production relations sometime become the engine for driving the productive forces to higher degrees whereas at times the same become fetters to its further development. This contradiction between the productive forces and the production relation relates directly to the classes participating in the process of production and thus gets related to the class- struggle. Thus, science and knowledge itself get related to the class contradictions. This obvious truth does not however become evident if we look at scientific knowledge in its abstraction. But the moment we scrutinize the manner of research, dissemination and application, the class nature of science become very obvious.

As students however we are made to believe the otherwise. Science is raised to a high pedestal and the scientists assuming the role of selfless saints. How true are these images and profiles that are created??

India under Jawaharlal Nehru, did adopt a very secular and scientific attitude towards the education and cultural development of post independent India. Though the lower levels of educations were not paid sufficient attention, Higher Institutions of Science and Technology did come up under the earlier plan periods. Major Universities developed across the country. Cost of education was also relatively low and elitism was yet to creep in a big way. But all that changed with the wind of Globalization blowing away the fig leaf of socialist pretensions.

But much before the virus of privatization could attack the vitals of the education system, the bureaucratization of the public Institutions run by the Government had already become a major fetter for the advancement of science and education in India. The authors own experience in this regard can help understand the malaise.

After completing MSc in physics from IIT Kanpur in 1972, the author had joined the Physical Research Laboratory for his PhD in Plasma Physics. After the completion of PhD in 1977, the author had joined as a Visiting scientist in PRL itself. In 1979, a protest against a supervisor for kicking a class-IV employee led to a lock-out in August 1979. Since the author refused to give in to the unacceptable demand of the PRL Management to sign an undertaking declaring allegiance to the Management, he was promptly dubbed as the trade union leader and his services came to be ended by December, 1979.

This authoritarianism born out of the bureaucratization of the public Institutions all over the country led to several trade union movements all across the country and instead of co-operation which should be hall mark for the quest in science, the staff and the Management work at cross purpose.

The enormous amount of money invested by the Government in the public Institutions and the Government’s deep and pervasive control obviously led to politicization of the scientific Managers and the recent disclosure of the Pokhran-II dud reveals the extent to which scientists could lie to appease their political bosses. The sudden termination of the Chandrayan project would also raise similar questions since as reported, it appears that the DOS scientist forgot to take into account the heat effect from the moon’s surface on the Chandrayan leading to the failure of its controls. Was it because the political bosses hurried up the entire launching resulting in this blunder?

The next major hurdle for the Indian education system from the class point of view is the massive privatization and commercialization of the entire system. Privatization of every type and level of Institutions and introduction of capitation fee and high levels of term fees have now made good education out of reach of the poor and the middle class. In the name of merit, Manusmriti is back in a new form. Dalits are virtually deprived of any higher education. Self- reliance has given away to buying technology of the shelf. Research or whatever we did, has given away to training our multitude to make them fit for the employment market.

With the integration of India with the capitalist network in this era of Globalization, the class nature of science as well as the education system is now becoming abundantly clear. Profit being the primary motive force driving the production, all funding also get channelized only towards such research that can lead to a development of profitable products. The entire defense-military establishment of the western world funded the nuclear and space research precisely because that yielded to hugely profitable weapons for mass destructions.

If we examine the division of labor across the globe it can easily seen that the Asian and Chinese part of the sub-continent have become the manufacturing backyard for the advanced countries. The high end of the science and technology will ofcourse be the prerogative of the advanced western block and the cheap labor of the Chinese-Indian sub-continent with imported technology will be the manufacturing centers for the supply of the consumables and that too at an unfair rate of exchange!

The primary goal of peoples’ science should be therefore to unshackle science and research from the narrow bounds of class interest and direct the research into the needs of the people rather than the profit of any business. Both from fundamental science as well as material point of view, we need to keep the people’s need at the centre of our concern and allow a wide participation of the people themselves in this process. The existing status-quo in the progress of science and technology can be altered only if we can free science from the shackles of profit motive.