On geoscientisation: A response to Cupples

Cupples' (2020) provocative paper explores the processes and practices of “geoscientisation,” focusing on its material consequences and the forms of “epistemic erasure” (p. 4) it yields. Her paper is a stimulating contribution that brings to the surface a range of issues that have swirled quietly and sometimes angrily around corridors and staff meetings for years. While there is certainly very much more to discuss I wish to make three main points in this necessarily brief response. First, I argue that the process of geoscientisation is not quite as “top‐down” as Cupples describes and suggest that the concept needs to better acknowledge its diverse driving forces. Second, I submit that “geoscientisation” of the discipline—and to some extent a “scientisation” of the social sciences—may be more pervasive than Cupples declares. Third, I think Cupples comes up short on strategies for resisting geoscientisation.