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Short abstract:

I present my work on power dynamics in decision-making at the micro-level of African-European research collaborations. How do ‘acts of power’ in collaborative practises and spaces show who decides, how, and why this matters for transformative collaborative science?

Long abstract:

Despite calls from scientists for inter-, trans-, and post-disciplinary science collaborations that can foster solutions for our shared sustainability challenges, ‘global science’ remains a stage of unequal resource distribution. Research shows such imbalances in academia, such as the disparity of scientific recognition and contribution between countries in Africa and Europe, including in joint collaborations. This privilege of certain actors above others has implications for the epistemic diversity scientists call for, towards transformative science. Whilst macro-level challenges – related to research funding, authorship and mobility – are well documented, little remains empirically understood about how research collaborations are practiced at the micro-level, and how imbalances play out in collaborative spaces amongst academic actors.

I address these matters in my ethnographic study of six international research collaborations that focus on sustainability, with researchers based in seven countries across Africa and five in Europe. I identify key moments of decision-making, or ‘acts of power’, during my fieldwork, and analyse how decisions are negotiated, and opened (or closed) for discussion. This analysis enables me to highlight key challenges and patterns related to power in these collaborations, and bring into discussion how power is exercised by collaborators as well as implications for knowledge production.

This conference is itself a space of far-reaching international scientific exchange in STS and the social sciences, and thus a fitting moment to reflect about this topic of power in research culture. In doing so, we may encourage transformative collaborations in our own fields and spaces.