Paper short abstract:

In this talk, I will show how astronomers construct societal responsibilities around astronomical facilities. Moreover, I will present how I create feedback loops between my findings and the astronomical and local communities, specifically in the context of the Africa Millimetre Telescope.

Paper long abstract:

Many of the world’s top astronomical facilities are based on land that originally belonged to indigenous people groups. Increasingly, astronomers are urged to reflect and act on the societal responsibility they have in building, operating and using these facilities. Astronomers and local communities alike have a growing awareness that astronomy has benefitted from “settler colonialism” by neglecting cultural, historical and environmental heritage of local communities. People from both communities argue that astronomers should reject these benefits in the future by engaging in early stage dialogue with local communities and pushing for science that benefits all.

Empirical insights are lacking into how astronomers interpret and deal, in real life settings, with citizens who ‘talk back’ to science. What societal needs and concerns are (in)visible to astronomers and why? Using multi-sited ethnography, I will deliver thick descriptions on how astronomers develop opinions about societal problems and construct their responsibilities, including notions of ‘doing good science’. This research will focus on the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) project which is currently being developed in Namibia. By also conducting field work within Namibian societal groups, this research aims to generate feedback loops between astronomers and society.

This talk will highlight preliminary results of the ethnographic research done so far within the AMT team and describe how feedback loops have been created between the researcher and the researched. It will also describe how this research is working towards co-creating, with astronomers, frameworks for discussing societal issues around astronomical facilities.