Abstract
This paper analyzes the communicative practices of a Colombian trans-woman scientist, biologist Brigitte Baptiste, when she speaks publicly about environmental issues on different media platforms. In the analysis, I explore the implications of Baptiste’s public presence for the imaginaries of readers and journalists regarding science, scientists and trans-people in Colombia. Leaning on certain feminist critiques of science, I analyze communicative practices as matters of care. Throughout the analysis, I find that care in Baptiste’s public presence is performed through the ways in which she connects biodiversity and sexual diversity, thinking with trans-women’s experiences to transgress the borders of science and connect it to activism and public service. I conclude that Baptiste’s public presence in Colombia is an exceptional example of gender diversity acceptance in the present, though it does represent a speculative commitment towards embracing diversity in general in the future.
Highlights
Este trabajo analiza las prácticas comunicativas de una científica trans colombiana, la bióloga Brigitte Baptiste; centrándose de modo particular en aquellas en las que Baptiste habla en público sobre temas ambientales en diferentes plataformas mediáticas
Brigitte Baptiste, a Colombian transwoman biologist, was one of those included in the exhibit
It can be argued that, by speculatively recognizing the utopian spirit of symbolically bonding trans-identities and environmental management, she demonstrates that she recognizes the vulnerability that comes with her privilege, and that she is trying to think from this position about her own biodiversity
Summary
In the following three sections, I begin by introducing Baptiste’s media presence, both as a trans-woman and as a scientist. Neutral knowledge as much as from radical environmental activism, in particular what she refers to as their paralyzing agendas: We have reached a point where scientists deny climate change to attack public management that does not suit their agendas, and one where environmental innovation is questioned in order to question ‘monster’ corporations, using certain forms of environmentalism to merely serve ideological purposes (Baptiste, 2013c) In these perceptions of the environment as something created by culture, in the uncomfortable and seemingly contradictory connections between corporations and environmental agendas, and between accountable public management, non-radical activism, and a caring science, Baptiste makes symbolic associations with her gender position as a trans-woman. It can be argued that, by speculatively recognizing the utopian spirit of symbolically bonding trans-identities and environmental management, she demonstrates that she recognizes the vulnerability that comes with her privilege, and that she is trying to think from this position about her own biodiversity
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
