উপনিবেশ বিরোধী চর্চা, জোড়া পাতা - পশ্চিমি বিজ্ঞান কারে কয় - ক্লদ আলভারেজ

ক্লদ আলভারেজের লেখার খুব গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অংশ হল জোড়াপাতাটি যেখানে তিনি অতিরিক্ত পাঠের নিদান দিচ্ছেন। জানি অনেকের ভাল লাগবে না, কিন্তু দেওয়া রইল। যদি কারোর কাজে লাগে।

আমার মন কেড়ে নিয়েছে শেষ স্তবকটি, এটা আমার মনেরও কথা। এখানে তিনি লিখছেন, But no work of academia can be as compelling as human experience. Enmeshed in day-to-day village cosmology, it was not too long before the scales fell quickly from my eyes. If one attempts to live close to the peasants or within the bosom of nature, modern science is perceived differently: as vicious, arrogant, politically powerful, wasteful, violent, unmindful of other ways. Life in Thane, a village north-east of the state of Goa, on India’s West Coast, and for the past six years in Parra, a more accessible coastal village, provided me with enough education to see through the emperor’s new clothes.

FURTHER READING

Mahatma Gandhi’s vigorous attack on the claim of modern science to truth in M.K. Gandhi, ‘Hind Swaraj’, in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Delhi: Government of India, vol. 􀀓, pp. 􀀗􀀐–􀀑􀀏􀀗, has been most important to me. A few decades later, a kindred spirit, Lewis Mumford, examined similar trends and pointed to the violence inherent to science in L. Mumford, ‘Reflections’, in My Works and Days, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 􀀐􀀘􀀖􀀘, and, of course, in his The Myth of the Machine, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 􀀐􀀘􀀕􀀓. Among the more recent inquiries into the epistemological limitations of science, see for instance P. Feyerabend, Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge, London: Verso, 􀀐􀀘􀀖􀀔, or K. Hübner, Critique of Scientific Reason, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀔. It is also worthwhile consulting L. Fleck, Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 􀀐􀀘􀀖􀀘, an early essay (written in 􀀐􀀘􀀒􀀕) on science as a social construction.

The vicious link between science and development has been explored in A. Nandy (ed.), Science, Hegemony and Violence: A Requiem for Modernity, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀗, and by myself in C. Alvares, Science, Development and Violence, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 􀀐􀀘􀀘􀀑. I found very insightful C.V. Seshadri’s seminal work Development and Thermodynamics, Madras: Murugappar Chettiar Research Centre, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀕, and also J.P.S. Uberoi, Science and Culture, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 􀀐􀀘􀀖􀀗. For two case studies in India, see D. Sharma, India’s Nuclear Estate, New Delhi: Lancers, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀒, and V. Shiva, The Violence of the Green Revolution: Ecological Degradation and Political Conflict in Punjab, Penang and London: Third World Network and Zed Books, 􀀐􀀘􀀘􀀐.

Stunning critiques of science have emerged from gifted practitioners of life husbandry. In the field of agriculture there is M. Fukuoka, The One Straw Revolution, Hoshangabad: Friends Rural Centre, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀔, and in the field of health M. Kothari and L. Mehta, Cancer:Myths and Realities, London: Marion Boyars, 􀀐􀀘􀀖􀀘, and Death, London: Marion Boyars, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀕. I. Richards, Indigenous Agricultural Revolution: Ecology and Food Production in West Africa, London: Hutchinson, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀔, testifies to the appropriateness of indigenous knowledge of cultivation, while F. Apffel-Marglin, ‘Smallpox in Two Systems of Knowledge’, in F. Apffel-Marglin and S. Marglin, Dominating Knowledge, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 􀀐􀀘􀀘􀀏, pp. 􀀐􀀏􀀑–􀀓􀀓, shows the inner cultural logic of a non-scientific way of seeing smallpox. Furthermore, there is obviously a long history of non-Western science. Thanks to the monumental work of J. Needham et al., Science and Civilization in China, vols 􀀐–􀀖, Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 􀀐􀀘􀀔􀀓, rich material on China is available; while Dharampal, Indian Science and Technology in the 􀀐􀀗th Century, New Delhi: Impex, 􀀐􀀘􀀖􀀐, highlights the

Indian patrimony of knowledge before colonization. S. Goonatilake, Aborted Discovery: Science and Creativity in the Third World, London: Zed Books, 􀀐􀀘􀀗􀀒, discusses the attempts and difficulties in redefining science from a non-Western perspective.