Science as Humanitarian Knowledge and as an Agent of Violence: Telling Stories About International Development
David Ludwig (Wageningen University)
Research for Development (R4D) is a major intersection between the development industry and academic research in domains such as agriculture, conservation, engineering, and public health. R4D is commonly legitimized through humanitarian narratives about scientists spreading their knowledge to "the most marginalized" and thereby improving livelihoods in the Global South. However, stories about the humanitarian achievements of science have become challenged by counter-narratives that frame R4D as an agent of violent modernization and destruction of biocultural diversity. The contestation of R4D has led to the emergence of new stories about Indigenous, endogenous, and transdisciplinary alternatives to mainstream development. Drawing from fieldwork in Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, and Mexico, this talk introduces conflicting narratives and reflects on the power of stories in structuring knowledge production in international development.
