Science, Policy, and Development in Africa: Challenges and Prospects by R. Sooryamoorthy

Abstract

Reviewed by: Science, Policy, and Development in Africa: Challenges and Prospects by R. Sooryamoorthy Cathy Skidmore-Hess Sooryamoorthy, R. Science, Policy, and Development in Africa: Challenges and Prospects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Opening with the statement, "A great deal is written and known about Africa but not much about science from Africa, or what Africa can give to science" (1), Science, Policy, and Development in Africa posits that Africa-based science would benefit the global production of scientific knowledge as well as individual nations. Sooryamoorthy, a sociologist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, has written extensively on technology and science in South Africa as well as the role of science in development in both colonial and postcolonial Africa, and he argues for the need to integrate locally produced science into Africa's development plans. For Sooryamoorthy, it is critical to create knowledge and technological capacity, because production of scientific knowledge is necessary to obtain international funding and is a key component of economic growth. As the gap between rich and poor countries widens in terms of knowledge production, the gap in economic development and wealth also increases. However, national development policies of African countries still contain very little focus on science and technology. To remedy this, Sooryamoorthy suggests that science and development policies be more closely aligned with the objectives expressed in national development plans. He also argues for more African-centered scientific programs. [End Page 226] Science, Policy, and Development in Africa makes a strong argument for the development and use of Africa's human capital. Higher population produces greater demand for technology and a larger amount of human capital from which to draw new methods and invention. Lack of appreciation for scientific research also means that an insufficient number of people know how to carry out scientific research (234). Part of the development of human capital involves the creation of more African scientists and more development plans based in science. This requires institutional capacity. According to Sooryamoorthy, the African continent has a poor record of building institutions for development and advancement. To balance technology transfer, and with science developed locally, education is key. African governments need to rely less on foreign capital and make more use of indigenous knowledge, not just in agriculture and medicine but in development more broadly. This means incorporating local knowledge into the formal education system and breaking with some of the patterns created by history and global capital. Sooryamoorthy notes that under colonialism, scientific inquiry was focused on solving the problems of the colonizers, but he focuses his analysis on the postcolonial period and the challenges to Africanizing science. During the 1960s and 1970s, newly independent African countries often needed to develop institutions, such as universities. These universities were, in turn, concerned with the "Africanisation of research, creation of academic positions and expansion of scientific establishments" (45). However, the global recession of the 1970s and a dip in oil prices slowed the production of science, confined it to universities and the public sector, and limited the growth of universities and the public sector as well. This downturn slowed the Africanization of and growth of African science, because scientific development and collaboration is linked with the growth of universities, the number of students enrolled in the sciences, and gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) (85). Sooryamoorthy's analysis indicates a high correlation between scientific production, wealth, and collaboration with the global scientific community. However, while essential, collaboration is often exploitative in the African context as "Africa is often mined for resources of interest to the international community, and African scientists become the under-recognized workers who collect those resources" (195–96). In regard to this and failures in development policy, Sooryamoorthy notes that the problems of science and technology (S&T) on the continent are twofold: first, social systems of science have not been able to attract "sufficient [End Page 227] political legitimacy" and international cooperation; and second, international aid cannot "replace local and national support in harnessing S&T for development" (285). To develop Africa's human potential and "science from Africa," a policy shift is also important. Sooryamoorthy makes use of Andrew Moravcsik's distinction between policy with science...