Knowledge Swaraj: An Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology was published in 2011 by a collection of authors associated with the Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS) Trust in India.
Contact: Dr. C. Shambu Prasad, Xavier Institute of Management Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India 751013.
Key concepts: knowledge swaraj; cognitive justice; knowledge pluralism
Knowledge Swaraj : An Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology (English, pdf)
Knowledge Swaraj : An Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology (English and French, html)
“This is a Hind Swaraj-inspired document for the 21t Century. It asks what “self-rule (swaraj) for India” can mean, one century after Mohandas Gandhi wrote his manifesto for an independent India on board a ship from Europe to Africa. Swaraj today in the 21st century has to include the important domain of self-rule in science and technology too. If Mahatma Gandhi gave prominence to science and technology in the form of law, medicine and railways in the original Hind Swaraj, for the 21st century we see on centre stage: biotechnologies, tribal knowledge, space technology, handloom, information and communication technologies, and ayurvedic medicine. This Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology argues for Indian self-rule of its science and technology, for a knowledge democracy that draws its agenda for research and technology on the richness of Indian culture and the needs of the Indian people……
This Manifesto argues for an India that uses science and technology for its own agenda, for a certain style of doing science and technology, and for policies that transcend the dichotomy between experts and non-experts. It will argue for using science and technology for the benefit of the people, and it will argue for including the rich variety of expertise, knowledge and experience available in Indian culture and society in scientific practice. This immediately raises the question how non-scientific forms of expertise can be given a voice; how expertise from outside the scientific establishment can be given influence inside; how the “citizen” will converse with the “scientist.” The larger project of which this Manifesto forms the starting point is specifically aimed at these issues. Reviews of democratization experiences in other parts of the world, and experimentations in India with this Manifesto, will hopefully lead to making better use of the broad spectrum of expertise that exists in Indian society.”
