This forms part of an ongoing history of ‘radical professional’ movements since the 70s 4 History - Organic intellectuals. ===
In the 70s I was a card-carrying member of the British 'radical science movement’. This page provides links to material on and from that movement.
I was a founder member of **Radical Science Journal** - and I published stuff - including *Living Thinkwork* (1980) and *Science or Society* (1982) mh books - which directly addressed agendas of the movement. In 2007 Gary Werskey - also a member of that 70s movement and of *RSJ* (and incidentally, the person who gave me the hints in 1970 that triggered my 70s’ PhD research) - wrote a review of ‘radical science’ in Britain: *Marxist critiques of capitalist science - A history in three movements?* (see below). This present topic is framed by that **‘three movements’** perspective. In the 70s there was an emerging awareness that the radical science movement was following on - but departing markedly from - a movement of ‘Left scientists’ in the 30s and 40s. Werskey discusses this, and projects forward to the present and future.
In 2016 I had been engaged in legacy work for the 70s movement of baby-boomers, mainly related to plans that others had set in motion, to create an archive at the Wellcome Foundation for **BSSRS** (British Society for Social Responsibility in Science) and the 70s and 80s movement. In the Autumn of 2016 the **radical technology** movement - under the convenorship of Peter Harper and Godfrey Boyle - held a celebration event: the anniversary of the 1976 edited book, *Radical technology*. At that meeting I saw how radical tech had lasted better than 'radical science' - because it had always been thoroughly grounded in the making of life-practices, use-value economies and working technologies.
Also I met Lucy Gao. Lucy was/is \[2019] a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who, in that year, had started into researching the British 70s radical science movement, in the belief that it holds insights for **culture, politics, economy and society in China today and tomorrow**. I thought she was dead right. The immediate prompt for this present topic is the collaboration and exchange between me and Lucy since that meeting \[at Sep 2018].
The following materials have been assembled, in the context of a project for the 4S Sydney, September 2018 (Society for Social Studies of Science, annual conference). - 4S Sydney 2018 project: Lives in STS. Includes historical notes. - 3rd radical science movement? A blog piece: *Peer-to-peer-commons - The historical ‘third movement’ of radical science? It can only get better*. - Other radical science archive material, derived from work 2016-18, assembling perspectives and archive materials relating to the 70s movement. This includes work alongside Peter Harper, Zac Bharucha and David Kaye.