Phila M. Msimang
@msimang.bsky.social
Philosopher of race, biology, and related social issues.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Phila-Msimang
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Phila-Msimang
Last night I had the honour of being inducted into the South African Young Academy of Science.
October 31, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Last night I had the honour of being inducted into the South African Young Academy of Science.
Today was a good start to our second week at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study where Jonatan (the PI of our project) presented on the questions that have brought us together. The Q&A that we all participated in was quite interesting, too.
October 13, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Today was a good start to our second week at the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study where Jonatan (the PI of our project) presented on the questions that have brought us together. The Q&A that we all participated in was quite interesting, too.
Here I was talking about the consequences of the changes in classifications (and who was labelled as belonging in them) for conceptualising biological studies. Our discussion focused on the use of such classifications in microbiome research.
Amazing talk by @msimang.bsky.social at the "Human Diversity Dilemma" Workshop (@localmicrobes.bsky.social), Cape Town! Check out this great infographic on shifting racial classif. in South Africa 17-21C by @tessamuldvarp.bsky.social and Phila:
figshare.com/articles/fig...
#hpbio #philsky #race
figshare.com/articles/fig...
#hpbio #philsky #race
October 3, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Here I was talking about the consequences of the changes in classifications (and who was labelled as belonging in them) for conceptualising biological studies. Our discussion focused on the use of such classifications in microbiome research.
I’m looking forward to this conference by the Azanian Philosophical Society that will be hosted at Fort Hare this week.
See the full conference programme at the bottom of this page: www.theaps.org/conference-a...
See the full conference programme at the bottom of this page: www.theaps.org/conference-a...
August 25, 2025 at 11:47 AM
I’m looking forward to this conference by the Azanian Philosophical Society that will be hosted at Fort Hare this week.
See the full conference programme at the bottom of this page: www.theaps.org/conference-a...
See the full conference programme at the bottom of this page: www.theaps.org/conference-a...
We are also pleased to announce that our special issue for this event will be published by the South African Journal of Science.
CFA The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the intersection of microbes, ethics & society
ISHPSSB Off-Year Workshop
Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
October 1-3, 2025
Abstracts due Aug.18
Organizers @abigailnd.bsky.social & @msimang.bsky.social
#philsci #STS 🦠
More info ⤵️
ISHPSSB Off-Year Workshop
Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
October 1-3, 2025
Abstracts due Aug.18
Organizers @abigailnd.bsky.social & @msimang.bsky.social
#philsci #STS 🦠
More info ⤵️
Home | The Human Diversity
perspectivesrace.wixsite.com
August 11, 2025 at 6:56 PM
We are also pleased to announce that our special issue for this event will be published by the South African Journal of Science.
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
Save the date! Interdisciplinary Workshop:
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
June 10, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Save the date! Interdisciplinary Workshop:
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
Here is an infographic that Tessa Moll (@tessamuldvarp.bsky.social) and I made about the development of racial classifications in South Africa from 1652 to the present. A paper explaining its content is in the works. For now, feel free to download the infographic here: dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
June 10, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Here is an infographic that Tessa Moll (@tessamuldvarp.bsky.social) and I made about the development of racial classifications in South Africa from 1652 to the present. A paper explaining its content is in the works. For now, feel free to download the infographic here: dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
New today: Iyer et al., "African Genetic Ancestry, Structural and Social Determinants of Health, and Mortality in Black Adults," jamanetwork.com/journals/jam....
Tl;dr: It's the 2nd (social determinants) that most effect the 3rd (mortality), not the 1st (genetic ancestry). Yet look where funding is!
Tl;dr: It's the 2nd (social determinants) that most effect the 3rd (mortality), not the 1st (genetic ancestry). Yet look where funding is!
African Genetic Ancestry, Social Determinants, and Mortality in Black Adults
This cohort study investigates the independent associations of African genetic ancestry and structural and social determinants of health with mortality among Black US adults.
jamanetwork.com
May 13, 2025 at 8:23 PM
New today: Iyer et al., "African Genetic Ancestry, Structural and Social Determinants of Health, and Mortality in Black Adults," jamanetwork.com/journals/jam....
Tl;dr: It's the 2nd (social determinants) that most effect the 3rd (mortality), not the 1st (genetic ancestry). Yet look where funding is!
Tl;dr: It's the 2nd (social determinants) that most effect the 3rd (mortality), not the 1st (genetic ancestry). Yet look where funding is!
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
"...for protests to succeed, they must be backed by movements with the ability to promise to withhold—labor, debt payments, rent payments, or consumer support—and to follow through if demands aren’t met."
Glad to have gotten the opportunity to push this line in Time
time.com/collections/...
Glad to have gotten the opportunity to push this line in Time
time.com/collections/...
Why Protests Should Be Promises
Modern movements that aim to advance racial equity should withhold and promise, rather than perform, writes Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò
time.com
May 1, 2025 at 12:05 PM
"...for protests to succeed, they must be backed by movements with the ability to promise to withhold—labor, debt payments, rent payments, or consumer support—and to follow through if demands aren’t met."
Glad to have gotten the opportunity to push this line in Time
time.com/collections/...
Glad to have gotten the opportunity to push this line in Time
time.com/collections/...
I enjoyed giving this presentation and the discussion that followed. I am thankful for the ROTO Research Group for having me.
A big thanks to @msimang.bsky.social for his insightful talk on racial and ethnic classifications in medicine yesterday! This was a great start into our Lecture Series in this semester. Thank you also to everyone who joined the talk and discussion! 🤗
#PhilSci #PhilMed #HPBio
#PhilSci #PhilMed #HPBio
April 9, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I enjoyed giving this presentation and the discussion that followed. I am thankful for the ROTO Research Group for having me.
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
Great lineup including our favorite philosophers Aline Potiron www.uu.nl/staff/AIPoti... and Phila Msimang @msimang.bsky.social. Don't miss these talks! #hpb 🐋🦠
New semester, new lecture series 🎉
Starting next Monday, we welcome amazing scholars to give talks in #HPBio and medicine - always at 4pm CET on zoom. The first talk will be by @msimang.bsky.social and later in the semester we will hear @stellasandford.bsky.social, @elisj.bsky.social and many more 🤩
Starting next Monday, we welcome amazing scholars to give talks in #HPBio and medicine - always at 4pm CET on zoom. The first talk will be by @msimang.bsky.social and later in the semester we will hear @stellasandford.bsky.social, @elisj.bsky.social and many more 🤩
April 1, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Great lineup including our favorite philosophers Aline Potiron www.uu.nl/staff/AIPoti... and Phila Msimang @msimang.bsky.social. Don't miss these talks! #hpb 🐋🦠
Here is a new blog post from our collaborative work in the CAT (Constructive Advanced Thinking) group on the history and ethics of the use and management of human remains.
In colonial contexts, human remains were taken and brought to museums and universities. Efforts to restitute them today come with political frictions, as J. Kurzwelly, @malinowska.bsky.social, @msimang.bsky.social, M. Wilckens & P. Wolff Mitchell explain on #PRIFblog.
blog.prif.org/2025/02/28/b...
blog.prif.org/2025/02/28/b...
Bones of Injustice: Political Frictions in Restitutions of Human Remains from Colonial Contexts - PRIF BLOG
In recent years, many museums and universities have begun to address past colonial injustices by critically examining their collections of human remains, often leading to their restitution to their as...
blog.prif.org
March 3, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Here is a new blog post from our collaborative work in the CAT (Constructive Advanced Thinking) group on the history and ethics of the use and management of human remains.
A sunny day out and about in Stellenbosch
February 23, 2025 at 8:24 PM
A sunny day out and about in Stellenbosch
Trump has sanctioned SA on the basis of misinformation produced and distributed by organisations like Afriforum (who went on a roadshow in the US spreading the myth of White genocide) and the SAIRR who misrepresent issues of race & policy in SA (e.g., see here: www.researchgate.net/publication/...).
February 8, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Trump has sanctioned SA on the basis of misinformation produced and distributed by organisations like Afriforum (who went on a roadshow in the US spreading the myth of White genocide) and the SAIRR who misrepresent issues of race & policy in SA (e.g., see here: www.researchgate.net/publication/...).
Lawyers are lobbying for the premature adoption of heritable human genome editing in South Africa. In this blog post, I describe the situation and why this should concern us all. The risks are not limited to South Africans but extend to humanity as a whole. #BioSecurity #HHGE #HealthPolicy
Let’s not move fast and break things: why caution is needed in our approach to heritable human genome editing (HHGE)
The premature adoption of genome editing technologies like the CRISPR-Cas9 system for clinical applications will more likely lead to biomedical abuses and unintended harms due to the removal of reason...
health.uct.ac.za
January 27, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Lawyers are lobbying for the premature adoption of heritable human genome editing in South Africa. In this blog post, I describe the situation and why this should concern us all. The risks are not limited to South Africans but extend to humanity as a whole. #BioSecurity #HHGE #HealthPolicy
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
Had a great Gender, Race, & Science class today discussing @msimang.bsky.social's article "Prescribing Race: No Blank Scripts for Using Race & Ethnicity in Health" www.argumenta.org/wp-content/u... #philsci #MedSky #hpbio
www.argumenta.org
November 26, 2024 at 10:45 PM
Had a great Gender, Race, & Science class today discussing @msimang.bsky.social's article "Prescribing Race: No Blank Scripts for Using Race & Ethnicity in Health" www.argumenta.org/wp-content/u... #philsci #MedSky #hpbio
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
I decided to go ahead and make a starter pack of historians, scientists, and others who work on scientific racism. If you’d like to be added to the pack (or removed from it), let me know.
go.bsky.app/E9PN3oG
go.bsky.app/E9PN3oG
November 6, 2024 at 9:57 PM
I decided to go ahead and make a starter pack of historians, scientists, and others who work on scientific racism. If you’d like to be added to the pack (or removed from it), let me know.
go.bsky.app/E9PN3oG
go.bsky.app/E9PN3oG
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
SciSci starter packs!
Adding a second starter pack here since we ran out of capacity with the first one: go.bsky.app/NeZvnb5
The first one can be found here: go.bsky.app/2R1E4TD
Please nominate or self-nominate with an example work.
Please share!
#AcademicSky #SciSci #SciPol #metascience
Adding a second starter pack here since we ran out of capacity with the first one: go.bsky.app/NeZvnb5
The first one can be found here: go.bsky.app/2R1E4TD
Please nominate or self-nominate with an example work.
Please share!
#AcademicSky #SciSci #SciPol #metascience
November 16, 2024 at 6:15 PM
SciSci starter packs!
Adding a second starter pack here since we ran out of capacity with the first one: go.bsky.app/NeZvnb5
The first one can be found here: go.bsky.app/2R1E4TD
Please nominate or self-nominate with an example work.
Please share!
#AcademicSky #SciSci #SciPol #metascience
Adding a second starter pack here since we ran out of capacity with the first one: go.bsky.app/NeZvnb5
The first one can be found here: go.bsky.app/2R1E4TD
Please nominate or self-nominate with an example work.
Please share!
#AcademicSky #SciSci #SciPol #metascience
Gentle bits of snow in Freiburg ❄️
November 22, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Gentle bits of snow in Freiburg ❄️
We are giving our first presentation about this project today.
The first joint talk of our CAT Group (Jonatan Kurzwelly (PI), Malin Wilckens, @msimang.bsky.social, Paul W Mitchell and me) will take place today at @friasunifreiburg.bsky.social.
More info:
www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/en/events/fr...
More info:
www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/en/events/fr...
November 18, 2024 at 11:17 AM
We are giving our first presentation about this project today.
If this interpretation of the new national guidelines is correct, this should be much bigger news than it is. We seem to be inviting a trouble that we are not ready for in respect to heritable human genome editing 🧬 theconversation.com/south-africa...
South Africa amended its research guidelines to allow for heritable human genome editing
A recent change to South Africa’s national health research guidelines contains newly added language that appears to permit the use of genome editing to create genetically modified children.
theconversation.com
November 5, 2024 at 7:35 AM
If this interpretation of the new national guidelines is correct, this should be much bigger news than it is. We seem to be inviting a trouble that we are not ready for in respect to heritable human genome editing 🧬 theconversation.com/south-africa...
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
Your paper "Prescribing Race: No Blank Scripts for Using Race & Ethnicity in Health" gives a great philosophical overview of many of the issues! #philsci #bioethics
www.argumenta.org/wp-content/u...
www.argumenta.org/wp-content/u...
www.argumenta.org
October 31, 2024 at 10:36 AM
Your paper "Prescribing Race: No Blank Scripts for Using Race & Ethnicity in Health" gives a great philosophical overview of many of the issues! #philsci #bioethics
www.argumenta.org/wp-content/u...
www.argumenta.org/wp-content/u...
The NASEM have just released their report on the use of race in biomedical research. I look forward to seeing how they have approached this challenge because it is a central concern in some of my own research.
See the report (and other resources) here: nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2791...
See the report (and other resources) here: nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2791...
October 31, 2024 at 10:29 AM
The NASEM have just released their report on the use of race in biomedical research. I look forward to seeing how they have approached this challenge because it is a central concern in some of my own research.
See the report (and other resources) here: nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2791...
See the report (and other resources) here: nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2791...
Reposted by Phila M. Msimang
We’re extending the deadline for our special collection on scientific racism to 31 August 2025. This is an important topic & we want to give more researchers the opportunity to contribute, & those committed more time to produce considered work. Manuscripts will be published online once accepted
The deadline for the Evolutionary Human Sciences special collection on scientific racism has been extended to August 2025. Details in the link www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
EHS special collection on scientific racism
Evolutionary Human Sciences special collection on scientific racism
www.cambridge.org
October 26, 2024 at 9:44 AM
We’re extending the deadline for our special collection on scientific racism to 31 August 2025. This is an important topic & we want to give more researchers the opportunity to contribute, & those committed more time to produce considered work. Manuscripts will be published online once accepted