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How inclusive is knowledge?

Bangalore: Who is included and who is excluded in the creation and use of knowledge in a globalising world? Is our vision of technological progress narrow in its bandwidth?

These were some of the questions that scientists, academics and political commentators from India and around the world asked on Friday at a debate on “Knowledge Society” – the new buzzword in governance vocabulary signifying the centre-stage that science, technology and innovation have come to occupy in policy-making.

The two-day debate was organised by the U.K.-India Education Research Initiative through collaboration between STEPS Centre at the University of Sussex, U.K., and the Centre for Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management.

The 21st century has brought with it the prefix “mass”, so you have mass communication, mass transport, mass entertainment and not least mass destruction. But has this “massification” necessarily been inclusive?, asked Sheila Jasanoff Pforzheimer, Professor of Science and Technology Studies, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, U.S.

Often a narrow and homogenised understanding of science excludes important aspects of knowledge from discussion, said Andy Stirling, Professor and Director of Science, Science and Technology Policy Research Unit and Co-Director of STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, U.K.

For instance, “debates on clean energy generally revolve around nuclear energy, which is a viable option in light of climate change, but this sidelines other options such as renewable energy.” Similarly, genetically engineered food remains the focus of scientific innovation in agriculture while the knowledge of farmers – their understanding of soil science and their role as technological innovators – is all but ignored, he added.

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