IMI-Aktuell 2025/327
Wissenschaft: „Robin-Hood-Syndrom“
(17.06.2025)
Drei Wissenschaftler*innen berichten für die International Union of Scientists, dass sie auf einer Konferenz zur Quantenphysik eingeladen waren, die von zwei US-Militäreinrichtungen mitfinanziert wurde. Sie haben deshalb allen Redner*innen der Konferenz einen offenen Brief geschickt und sie aufgefordert, in ihren Beiträgen die Militarisierung der Wissenschaft zu problematisieren. Die Initiator*innen berichten auch über die meist positiven Reaktionen, aber auch darüber, dass manche Wissenschaftler*innen mit einer Art Robin-Hood-Syndrom argumentieren, wonach es ja eigentlich gut sei, wenn man militärische Mittel für die Wissenschaft abzweige:
„Several physicists argue that accepting military funding for basic research or the organization of scientific events is not only acceptable but even desirable. This view is often supported by a kind of “Robin Hood syndrome,” in which scientists believe they are diverting funds that would otherwise be used for weapons development toward peaceful, academic purposes.
While we understand the pragmatic reasoning behind this stance, we believe that the moral compromise it entails is too high a price to pay. Accepting sponsorship from military agencies normalizes the idea that close ties between science and the military are acceptable. It makes such associations feel routine, dulling the discomfort one ought to feel when linked to institutions whose actions cause immense suffering and loss of life. Moreover, it reinforces the notion that the vast sums allocated to the military are inevitable and unchallengeable—when in fact, we should be advocating for a reallocation of those resources toward education, infrastructure, and other vital civil services at the source. Rather than justifying small symbolic “thefts” from military budgets, we should work to foster a culture that rejects militarism and any complicity with it on principled, ideological grounds.“