Decolonizing Science and Technology Studies?

Abstract

This Scenario analyzes the relationships between STS, postcolonial studies, the decolonial approach, and other frameworks that address planetary issues and the heterogeneous positioning of social studies of science and technology. First, it defines STS as a “Science of the North”, not only because it has been largely produced within the Euro-Atlantic area, but also because its conceptual apparatus presents itself as universal, even though it originated in a limited region of the world. Next, after outlining the main postcolonial and decolonial approaches, the article explores the openings that have emerged – especially in recent years – toward a fruitful hybridization between the two perspectives, both methodologically and theoretically. In particular, it highlights the encounters between non-Western and Western epistemic practices and the questioning of taken-for-granted roles within STS methodological practices themselves. Finally, the richness that STS can contribute to postcolonial studies is identified in its focus on materiality and planetary concerns, and thus in the fact that it does not restrict analysis solely to the discursive, semiotic, or representational dimensions of coloniality, as often happens in classical postcolonial studies.