We might need new political terminology. Or maybe it already exists and just isn’t used. Once again, this time in a Nature editorial, the argument is made that such-and-such subject matter or so-and-so group of people “must rise above politics.” Except that politics is how we determine policy, and how we funnel the ongoing conflict over our values into collective and redistributive action.

This editorial from Nature itself discusses a movement which “gave a global voice to researchers working in, or supporting, non-proliferation, and served as a channel of communication between the superpowers”. Literally, that’s politics.

How is scientists engaging in public communication and public debate about public policy not politics?

The editorial cites the “importance of inclusivity” and having “a place at the table for researchers from diverse backgrounds and from across disciplines”. These might be positions taken from a moral standpoint or a pragmatic one, but expressing them, fighting for them, that, too, is politics.

Maybe the problem with our politics today in part is due to so many otherwise smart people running from the term. Life is political. Most of not seeing that, perhaps, is a point of privilege.