Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies Reader

For twenty years, the renowned philosopher of science Sandra Harding has argued that science and technology studies, postcolonial studies, and feminist critique must inform one another. In The Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies Reader, Harding puts those fields in critical conversation, assembling the anthology that she has long wanted for classroom use. In classic and recent essays, international scholars from a range of disciplines think through a broad array of science and technology philosophies and practices. The contributors reevaluate conventional accounts of the West’s scientific and technological projects in the past and present, rethink the strengths and limitations of non-Western societies’ knowledge traditions, and assess the legacies of colonialism and imperialism. The collection concludes with forward-looking essays, which explore strategies for cultivating new visions of a multicultural, democratic world of sciences and for turning those visions into realities. Feminist science and technology concerns run throughout the reader and are the focus of several essays. Harding provides helpful background for each essay in her introductions to the reader’s four sections. ContributorsHelen AppletonKaren BäckstrandLucille H. BrockwayStephen B. BrushJudith CarneyCommittee on Women, Population, and the EnvironmentArturo EscobarMaria E. Fernandez Ward H. GoodenoughSusantha GoonatilakeSandra HardingSteven J. HarrisBetsy HartmannCori HaydenCatherine L. M. HillJohn M. HobsonPeter MühlhäuslerCatherine A. Odora HoppersConsuelo QuirozJenny ReardonElla ReitsmaZiauddin SardarDaniel SarewitzLonda SchiebingerCatherine V. ScottColin ScottMary TerrallD. Michael Warren

“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.”, “…Harding has succeeded in representing great geographical variety and historical depth, making her compilation an important reference book in the field of STS.” , “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.”

Sandra Harding is Professor of Education and Women’s Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her many books include Sciences from Below: Feminisms, Postcolonialities, and Modernities, also published by Duke University Press; The Feminist Standpoint Theory Reader: Intellectual and Political Controversies; Is Science Multicultural? Postcolonialisms, Feminisms, and Epistemologies; and The Science Question in Feminism.