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In this paper, the author proposes that for STS as a discipline to change and progress, and to generate opportunities when entering into a dialog with postcolonial and feminist studies and activism, as well opening itself to decolonial options, it must first conduct itself in acts of provincialization. To do so, a methodological challenge is proposed: Taking infrastructure seriously by understanding infrastructure as founded in and by cultural and knowledge labor. Taking inspiration from Chandra Mukerji and others, this methodological re-imagining is proposed in the form of cultural infrastructural genealogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to reflect on the role of Science, Technology and Society (STS) research(ers) in co-constructing Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the Global South. By reporting on RRI research in the Global South, here the Indo-Dutch NWO-MVI project on rice straw burning in Punjab, we make an argument for approaching RRI as a symmetric process of knowledge production mobilised by local actors and researchers alike. For STS researchers to responsibly engage with local innovation systems, their activities need to go beyond knowledge provision and towards facilitating the ownership and circulation of local meanings and means to responsibly innovate. Rather than understanding RRI as a fixed framework to govern innovation practices, this article reflects on RRI as an approach that combines research with intervention. We propose that following the principle of symmetry can turn RRI into a productive tool for the mobilisation of embedded local principles that can organise innovation systems in a responsible way. In particular, symmetry allows the re-location of meanings and practices of innovation as well as the re-negotiation of multiple notions of responsible governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]