Political Education in Science: Two Years of Palestine Space Institute

The Palestine Space Institute (PSI) is a pioneering think tank established to challenge and disrupt the prevailing colonial and militaristic narrative in the space industry. An important aspect of this vision is to equip community members with cross-disciplinary tools to understand science in society and disentangle power, hierarchy, and the interplay between geopolitics and science. We propose an urgent reframing of science communication as political education, and offer reflections from PSI’s implementation of this approach since 2023 and the increasing need for such interventions due to current and emerging geopolitical conditions. These activities include seminars and discussion spaces with researchers, community partners, and global stakeholders; the launch of the Space and Military-Industrial Complex Database, a social-scientific resource built for scientists; an in-person community-building event; and research activities centered on material, ethical, and political examination of the dual-use paradigm in the space industry, including in the use of EO satellites and data. We also present how conceptual interventions, such as understanding, documenting, and obstructing “spacewashing,” can disrupt how science is used to manufacture consent for colonial violence.

PSI’s framework equips STEM practitioners, educators, students, and broader audiences with a holistic understanding of the geopolitical role of science, with participatory, action-centered, and community-building outcomes. This approach also applies characteristics of traditional science communication to improve political literacy for the public. We argue that intellectual resistance is a crucial component of resisting colonialism and neocolonialism, both of which are upheld by science and the false narrative of apolitical science and technology.