Description
Book SynopsisArgues that science and technology studies, postcolonial studies, and feminist critique must inform one another
Trade Review“
The Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies Reader succeeds in mapping a new field of inquiry for those of us working in science and technology studies. This brilliant collection of essays successfully bridges postcolonialist and feminist approaches to science and technology studies and provides the foundation for essential transformations of curriculum and research in this area. The essays provoke examination of how different knowledge systems function, and they call into question who benefits and is disadvantaged by those systems. For those committed to the tenet that just societies require just practices of science, this collection is indispensable. No science and technology studies curriculum is complete without it.”—
Nancy Tuana, Dupont/Class of 1949 Professor of Philosophy, Pennsylvania State University
“This magisterial, compelling, and important collection pushes the boundaries of postcolonial studies in urgent ways. It charts the richness and depth of knowledge systems across the non-Western world, delineating their differences from, contributions to, and marginalization by what is thought of as Western science. This book makes it impossible to ignore the interconnections between long histories of imperialism, the dynamics of the Cold War, and the asymmetries of globalization, or to isolate science from social relations. It also maps the ground on which we can imagine a different future.”—
Ania Loomba, co-editor of
South Asian Feminisms“The anthology lives up to its aspirations of providing an accessible compass to issues and questions that have been approached with a ‘‘postcolonial sensibility’’... By highlighting cross-connections between contributions of different sections, Harding succeeds in bringing the texts of diverse disciplinary backgrounds into conversation with each other and thus underscores the postcolonialist need for a trans-disciplinary cooperation.” -- Anna Mohr * Science and Education *
“…Harding has succeeded in representing great geographical variety and historical depth, making her compilation an important reference book in the field of STS.” -- Harry Yi-Jui Wu * East Asian Science, Technology and Society *
“The book will serve admirably in classes for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in which the history and future of global science and technology policy are discussed.” -- William Kelleher Story * Technology and Culture *
Table of ContentsPreface ix
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction. Beyond Postcolonial Theory: Two Undertheorized Perspectives on Science and Technology 1
I. Counterhistories 33
1. Discovering the Oriental West / John M. Hobson 39
2. Long-Distance Corporations, Big Sciences, and the Geography of Knowledge / Steven J. Harris 61
3. Heroic Narratives of Quest and Discovery / Mary Terrall 84
4. Maria Sibylla Merian: A Woman of Art and Science / Ella Reitsma 103
5. Prospecting for Drugs: European Naturalists in the West Indies / Londa Schiebinger 110
6. Science and Colonial Expansion: The Role of the British Royal Botanical Gardens / Lucille H. Brockway 127
7. Out of Africa: Colonial Rice History in the Black Atlantic / Judith Carney 140
II. Other Cultures' Sciences 151
8. Navigation in the Western Carolines: A Traditional Science / Ward H. Goodenough 159
9. Science for the West, Myth for the Rest? / Colin Scott 175
10. Ecolinguistics, Linguistic Diversity, Ecological Diversity / Peter Mühlhäusler 198
11. Gender and Indigenous Knowledge / Helen Appleton, Maria E. Fernandez, Catherine L. M. Hill, and Consuelo Quiroz 211
12. Whose Knowledge, Whose Genes, Whose Rights? / Stephen B. Brush 225
13. The Role of the Global Network of Indigenous Knowledge Resource Centers in the Conservation of Cultural and Biological Diversity / D. Michael Warren 247
III. Residues and Reinventions
14. Development and the Anthropology of Modernity / Arturo Escobar 269
15. Tradition and Gender in Modernization Theory / Catherine V. Scott 290
16. Security and Survival: Why Do Poor People Have Many Children? / Betsy Hartmann 310
17. Call for a New Approach / Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment 318
18. The Human Genome Diversity Project: What Went Wrong? / Jenny Reardon 321
19. Bioprospecting's Representational Dilemma / Cori Hayden 343
IV. Moving Forward: Possible Pathways 365
20. Islamic Science: The Contemporary Debate / Ziauddin Sardar 383
21. Mining Civilizational Knowledge / Susantha Goonatilake 380
22. Toward the Integration of Knowledge Systems: Challenges to Thought and Practice / Catherine A. Odora Hoppers 388
23. Human Well-Being and Federal Science: What's the Connection? / Daniel Sarewitz 403
24. Science in a Era of Globalization: Alternative Pathways / David J. Hess 419
25. Civic Science for Sustainability: Reframing the Role of Experts, Policymakers, and Citizens in Environmental Governance / Karen Bäckstrand 439
Copyright Acknowledgments 459
Index 463
