When a Sociology of Science Is Necessary: Contemporary Aspects of the Conflict Between Creationists and Evolutionists

Abstract

The chapter asserts that understanding creationist doctrines (which reject Darwin’s theory of evolution and propose a return to the biblical Book of Genesis) requires an approach on two distinct levels. On the first level of analysis, the investigation of the documents produced by this movement’s representatives demonstrates the recurrent call by creationists to fight against scientific materialism. In this appeal, authors such as Darwin, Marx and Freud appear as those responsible for the current social and moral crisis. On the second level of examination, I maintain the need for sociological research that moves beyond the religious documents toward an understanding of certain structural features of our world. These features appear as if transfigured in the creationist discourse. Among them, it is impossible not to mention the acute contradictions of contemporary life that generate an extremely hostile reality for women and men across the planet (certainly with accentuated social and national differences). In this sense, demands for greater and more inclusive access to science—undoubtedly necessary—seem insufficient to overcome the regressive social processes within which creationism is inserted.