Presence from Absence: Looking within the Triad of Science, Technology and Development.

This paper begins with the Simmel triad, a unit formed by three different sides, in order to explore science and technology in the applied mainstream discourse of development. My analysis begins when development is oversimplified to an absence of science and technology. By placing the beliefs, values and knowledge that are embedded, produced and maintained within the triad of science, technology and development under the scholarly gaze, I illustrate the importance of understanding whether it is an absence or presence that is nurtured by the analysis and reproduced in the discourse. The paper begins with a short discussion of development as a mainstream discourse and moves into a discussion of studying the triad from the outside and inside. Using an informal case study of the Togolese educational and demographic document: statistiques scolaires I explore components of the development, science and technology triad from an inside perspective and place the who, what, where, when and how of the triad within social relations and social structures in order to study science and technology as social institutions within development rather than as objects of progress. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]