1. Whose Infrastructure? Towards Inclusive and Collaborative Knowledge Infrastructures in Open Science
- Author
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Denisse Albornoz, Angela Okune, Rebecca Hillyer, Leslie Chan, Alejandro Posada, University of California [Irvine] (UCI), University of California, Open and Collaborative Science in Development, University of Toronto, Leslie Chan, and Pierre Mounier
- Subjects
Sociology of scientific knowledge ,Open science ,Knowledge management ,[SHS.INFO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Library and information sciences ,open data ,Context (language use) ,Reuse ,inclusive knowledge infrastructures ,050905 science studies ,Order (exchange) ,electronic publishing ,Participatory design ,research infrastructure ,open science ,[ SHS.INFO ] Humanities and Social Sciences/Library and information sciences ,0601 history and archaeology ,Sociology ,participatory design ,Information Science & Library Science ,Sustainable development ,Intersectionality ,open access ,060101 anthropology ,business.industry ,4. Education ,05 social sciences ,knowledge production ,06 humanities and the arts ,GL ,sustainability ,collaboration ,LAN025000 ,research tools ,0509 other social sciences ,050904 information & library sciences ,business ,institutional repository ,knowledge common ,intersectionality - Abstract
The current discourse around Open Science has tended to focus on the creation of new technological platforms and tools to facilitate sharing and reuse of a wide range of research outputs. There is an assumption that once these new tools are in place, researchers—and at times, members of the general public—will be able to participate in the creation of scientific knowledge in more accessible and efficient ways. While many of these new tools have indeed assisted in the ease of collaboration through online spaces and mechanisms, the narrowness of how infrastructure is imagined by open science practitioners tends to put the use of technology ahead of the issues that people are actually trying to solve, while failing to acknowledge the systemic constraints that exist within and between some communities. Drawing on an analytical framework grounded in Black feminist intersectionality (Noble, “A Future”), this paper highlights the need for more inclusive knowledge infrastructures, particularly in the context of fair and sustainable development. Three case studies from the Open and Collaborative Science in Development Network (OCSDNet), are outlined in order to illustrate the importance of moving beyond a definition of infrastructure as merely a technical or physical entity. These cases, arising from research conducted in South Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean, demonstrate how more sustainable and nuanced forms of collaboration and participation may be enabled through broader understandings of knowledge infrastructures. This paper further argues that leveraging the feminist concept of intersectionality when conceptualizing the development of knowledge infrastructures could be one way to move from narrow assumptions about standardized knowledge “users” towards more inclusive reimaginings of how a plurality of knowledge can be produced and shared via networked technologies.
- Published
- 2018