A Science for Peace
World Science Day for Peace and Development, celebrated on November 10, invites us to focus our attention on the possible meanings and contents of the relationship between science, society, and peace.
While science opened up to society starting in the 17th century, largely freeing itself from the paradigm of secrecy, it was primarily in the last century that—following the development and use of the atomic bomb—new, serious questions emerged about the relationship between science and society and about science’s contribution to the establishment of peaceful societies.
Certainly, this is neither an easy nor a univocal discourse, yet it is primarily the scientific community that questions itself. Against a figure like Edward Teller, considered the father of the atomic bomb, we can contrast Jozef Rotblat, one of the ten physicists who signed the 1955 Russell-Einstein Manifesto against the proliferation of atomic weapons, who would help create the theoretical foundations for a series of other important treaties limiting and even prohibiting nuclear weapons—the latter, which entered into force in 2021, was not signed by states possessing atomic weapons or that are part of military alliances based on nuclear deterrence.
While representatives of science and philosophy have long worked toward the creation of a European cultural space, modern science also bears witness to the necessity of human collaboration: science is an extremely interconnected global activity that lends itself well to building ties and bridges, emphasizing what unites human beings beyond nationalisms.
Some examples: CERN, the world’s most important research laboratory in the field of particle physics, was founded in 1954 by twelve European countries, a full three years before the Treaty of Rome, the founding act of the great European family, as Giorgio Parisi proudly noted.
Subsequently, in 2017, the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) laboratory was inaugurated in Jordan—envisioned years earlier by Pakistani physicist Abdus Salam—where scientists from warring countries work not only together, but on a common project that benefits everyone.
Recently, the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution, Pact for the Future, while recognizing that advances in knowledge, science, technology, and innovation could lead to a breakthrough toward a better and more sustainable future for all, nevertheless warns: the choice is ours.
In this perspective, the Science and Dialogue for Peace Laboratory has been established within the CNR Department of Human and Social Sciences and Cultural Heritage, which interprets the scientific community’s desire to put its studies at the service of dialogue for peace and is based on the awareness that science as a whole is a driving force for knowledge and that dialogue is central to the processes of building peaceful societies.
Some of the foundations of scientific practice such as collaboration, the sharing of ideas, and critical reflection constitute valuable tools for managing conflicts and for preventing the outbreak of hatred, the transformation of the enemy into a criminal, and similar aberrations that Morin defines as war hysteria.
Peace, as John Galtung, founder of peace studies, reminded us, is not only the absence of war; the concept of peace includes everything that, oriented toward the prevention of war, is aimed at building peaceful societies, encompassing a variety of factors including the promotion of social justice and labor policies, freedom of expression, respect for gender identities, education, the fight against poverty, human and children’s rights, and sustainable development.
At the same time, for scientific innovation processes to be aligned with society’s values, needs, and expectations, it is necessary that society as a whole be able to understand and engage with the scope of scientific innovation in all its aspects, promoting cultural emancipation that enables the transition from users of innovative products to people capable of making informed choices related to their individual and social sphere. The relationship between science and society cannot be based solely on scientific information and dissemination, but rather on the conscious use of scientific knowledge to enable informed exercise of citizenship rights, as Pietro Greco indicated.
For this reason, an attitude of trust in science perceived not as magical, but as profane and tangible, is increasingly necessary; this is what is related to educational and knowledge levels, as we indicated in the CNR Report on the State of Research in Italy (Valente, Tudisca, Pennacchiotti https://www.dsu.cnr.it/relazione-sulla-ricerca-e-linnovazione-in-italia/). This represents a more mature vision of science, more closely linked to an active and proactive attitude on the part of civil society.
