[ATHENA] Technological Globalization From Below - Final session - G. Soto Laveaga

[Thibaut Serviant-Fine <tserviant AT gmail.com>]

Dear colleagues,

The final session of our yearly seminar will be held on Wednesday 29th June at 1:00 pm (Paris time).

We will have the pleasure to listen to Gabriela Soto Laveaga (Department of the History of Science, Harvard University) presenting on: "Rivers, Seeds, and Experiment Stations: Rethinking Green Revolution Narratives"

Please find below the zoom link, the abstract of the presentation, as well as the full program and argument of the seminar.

Best regards,

The organizing committee

https://u-paris.zoom.us/j/83464484458?pwd=L3J0bmZkSjY0YjRYOWhSVkpCWXB0dz09
Meeting ID: 834 6448 4458
Passcode: 054284

Abstract:
In the mid-1960s the Yaqui Valley became known the world over because of the high-yielding wheat seeds developed in this space. As new seed varieties were developed and scientific findings made their way into publications the relationship between scientists and farmers shifted. This talk examines the broader ramifications of scientific agriculture research in two distinct spaces, Mexico and India, and asks what can be replicated and what it means to "move" an experimental field across the world.

Past sessions

• 27th October 2021: Erasing a chemical past? Governing obsolete pesticides in Africa – Nathalie Jas (INRAE, IRISSO)
• 24th November 2021: Market, Value and the Grey Political Economy of (Indian Traditional) Drugs in Cambodia – Laurent Pordié (CNRS, Cermès3)
• 5th December 2021: Knowledge/Seizure: The Rentier Infrastructure of Kenya's M-Pesa - Kevin P. Donovan (Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh)
• 26th January 2022: Elusive Aspirations for Pharmaceutical Science from Below: Hope in South African Drug Discovery – Anne Pollock (Global Health & Social Medicine, King’s College)
• 23rd February 2022: Holding Out Against the Global Fundamentals of Growth: Knowledge and Technology in Asia’s Agrifood Systems – Rajeswari Raina (International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University)
• 30th March 2022: Cultural markets and digital platforms: the deployment of Netflix and Amazon seen from India – Christine Ithurbide (CNRS, Passages)
• 27th April 2022: The Eyes of the World: Seeing Technology from the Eastern Congo’ – James H. Smith (Anthropology Dept, UC Davis)

Seminar argument
New technologies are entering daily lives and reshaping societies across the globe at an ever-increasing pace. While technological change has been largely analysed as stemming from Northern countries that industrialized first since the 18th and 19th century, this picture is not satisfying to explore the drivers and consequences of technological change in the context of the growing contribution of developing and emerging countries to the global economy. Surely, technologies originating from the global North are having a huge impact on societies in the global South, but analyses of technological change need to integrate other kinds of circulations (South-South and South-North, schematically), to develop a better understanding of the global world's technological becoming. In order to understand the magnitude of this shift, we engage in a research programme that applies the framework of "globalization from below" to global markets of technology (Tarrius 2002; Mathews et al 2012; Choplin & Pliez 2018). The fundamental assumption guiding this research is that the development of technologies will take a path that is specific to societies from the Global South. The seminar's sessions will document the social issues pertaining to technological expansion in developing and emerging contexts, based upon empirical research. By doing this, they will highlight the scientific and technological dynamism of the Global South countries, as well as the often devastating consequences of technological development for subalternized populations. Second, they will characterize technological globalization "from below", through the formulation of analytical tools; they will therefore enrich the conception of technical expansion from an original standpoint, paying particular attention to processes of technological expansion in relation to developing contexts, where labour informality and resource-scarce innovation are major concerns. The seminar is interdisciplinary with a major "Science & Technology Studies" focus.

Organizing committee

Javed Mohammad ALAM, Mariana GAMEIRO, Mahamat Nour Moussa ILYASS, Koichi KAMEDA, Cecilia PASSANTI, Jessica POURRAZ, Mathieu QUET, Yves-Marie RAULT-CHODANKAR, Thibaut SERVIANT-FINE and Aamod UTPAL

Thibaut Serviant-Fine

 Pharmacien | PhD Histoire des Sciences | Academia | @Tserviant

 Chercheur postdoctoral - ANR AniPharm

 Centre Population et Développement (Université de Paris / IRD)