About the lab

The acronym stands for “Community Organization, Microbial Metabolism and the Origins of Natural Selection”. But the name stands for something bigger: A common space to work and create in community. The culture and science of the lab are both based on the premise that we do not exist in isolation. We exist in relationship with each other and with our environment. Each of those relationships, in turn, is shaped by all the relationships that make our unique histories. Recognizing this permeability and complex network means recognizing that we do not make science in a vacuum, that we make science in particular historical and political moments, from perspectives shaped by our own experiences and identities.

The COMMONS lab is an interdisciplinary and pluralist space, where diverse identities and perspectives are indispensable for the success of this learning community.

We recognize that the COMMONS lab exists already within a series of systems and relationships of power (e.g. in a University that was made possible by speculation with stolen Indigenous lands). This environment already shapes our relationships, but through our actions and science, the COMMONS lab is committed to changing unjust power structures. Science has been used to justify oppression and mantain the status-quo (e.g. eugenics, the naturalization of sexist ideas), it has provided technologies for genocide, and it has aided in the rapid deterioration of our environment. But science is also about our curiosity and our relationship with the world around us. Science (and access to science) has been at the center of queer movements demanding better healthcare for all bodies, and science has been at the forefront of environmentalist movements (with all of their contradictions). In the podcast Scene-on: seing white, Chenjerai Kumanyika puts it best:

“In this sort of post-fact world we live in right now, I’ve really come to appreciate the value of science, the value of methodology. But that brings me to this conundrum where I’m like, man, you know, leading scientists throughout huge parts of western history, including now, have really got it wrong (…) it seems to me that a lot of those scientists were asking the wrong questions. Because science inevitably is being deployed in some kind of political arrangement. So that made the science have the wrong questions. And when you ask the wrong questions you’re bound to get the wrong answers, right? (…) our science is like about weapons, and capital, and you know those kinds of things, and not about how to heal and to create equality and you know those kinds of things. (…) I don’t want to discard science at all, but I want to say that maybe we need to look at what forces are directing the kinds of questions our scientists are asking. “ (Chenjerai Kumanyika, Scene-on: seeing white, part 8)

We are interested in reflecting on the kind of questions we are asking and why we are asking them. What can we learn about ourselves by reflecting on our questions and methodologies? We like to think of the COMMONS lab as one of many labs figuring out what feminist science can be (the F.L.A.I.R and CLEAR labs are some of the other labs inspiring us in this pursuit).

Values

Our commitment is to make of the COMMONS lab a permeable space to the communities around us. A space where all members can be intellectualy corageous and vulnerable, all members can fail and learn from our mistakes, and all members can succeed and be creative. We do not aim for a space free of conflict; we believe that healthy conflict resolution is central to the creation of safe and diverse spaces that foster growth and creativity. Such an environment requires that we be honest (with our science, ourselves, and each other) and that we respect each other in a deep and meaningful way. Finally, it requires that we question the social systems and power structures and our positions in those systems–claim more space if we need to, and open space for others if we already have too much.

We do not have all the answers (nor the majority of them) but if this sounds like an interesting project to you, and you are interested in the research questions we are asking, please contact us! we are looking for more people on our team), and we are always interested in collaborations.