Far from the objective, benevolent, power-for-good hyped by industry, science is simply not neutral — or benign.

This truth was recently laid bare by political scientist Love Hansell in his powerful talk Breaking the Gold Standard: The Social Barriers to Non-Animal Research Methods, delivered on World Day for Animals in Labs.

Hansell was clear: science is not some pure, apolitical pursuit of truth. It’s shaped by human decisions, human ideologies, and human hierarchies — i.e., it’s political.

And, because it’s political, science cannot be separated from the power structures that dominate our society; rather, it shapes and enforces them.  

This means that, because our power structures are built on human supremacy, capitalism, and control, nonhuman animals become collateral. 

Science objectifies life. It strips sentient beings of autonomy and identity, and it turns them into “biotechnology”.

And, that’s why ending animal experimentation isn’t just about ending bad science. It’s about confronting power, and it’s about rejecting anthropocentrism, or the myth that humans matter more than everyone else. 

Indeed, anthropocentrism is the ideological root of speciesism, which underpins human exploitation of animals in labs and beyond: because humans see themselves as the most important beings (anthropocentrism), they feel justified in discriminating against other species and treating them as lesser (speciesism). In other words, speciesism is anthropocentrism in action — a myth turned into violence . . . which reaches far beyond laboratory walls. 

Said Hansell, the oppression of nonhuman animals is not separate from human oppression — rather, what happens to them, happens to us. Our fates are linked.

He’s right. The brutalization of nonhuman animals is not an isolated travesty; rather, it’s part of the same machinery of domination that harms us all.

But, here’s the part they don’t want us to know: it doesn’t have to be this way. 

Hansell reminded us that science is socially constructed, which means it can be socially deconstructed. We can change it. 

To do this, we must question motives, challenge assumptions, and expose the truth. 

We must dismantle the lie that science is “neutral” and confront the realities that science, as currently practiced:

➣ serves the politically empowered at the expense of the politically disempowered;
➣ is violent and oppressive; and
➣ harms everyone.

As George Orwell wrote, and Hansell echoed: “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle”.

So, let us commit to struggling — together — to see clearly and to help others do the same.

Let us all see that nonhuman animals are not biotechnology for human use — they are individuals who deserve freedom.

Let us all see that science doesn’t need to harm animals — only the greedy industries that exist to profit off their pain do.

Let us all see that ending animal experimentation means more than shutting down labs — it means dismantling the power structures that rely on exploitation.

Science, as it stands, cannot function without anthropocentrism, or the violence that flows from it. So, ending animal experimentation isn’t a reform. It’s a revolution.

And, it’s one we must fight for — together.

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