PhD Orals Document: Querying Science and Technology Studies in Africa

This essay, submitted by University of California, Irvine Anthropology PhD student Angela Okune in partial fulfillment of her requirements for advancement to candidacy, is an annotated subset of a broader exhibit entitled "STS in 'Africa' in formation" created by Angela as part of the 4S 2018 STS Across Borders initiative.

This orals document queries key social studies of science and technology in/on Sub-Saharan Africa to understand how analysts have understood the construction of “Africa” as an object of study and the ethical responsibilities of doing research in/on the continent. This document includes discussions over the binary construction of “indigenous knowledge” versus "science" and how these debates feature in STS work. The document also investigates the data practices that STS scholars themselves use (and their articulations about these practices).

This is one of three essays. A second essay looks at efforts towards decolonizing the African university here. A third essay queries collaboration collaboratively and can be found here.