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Short abstract:

This paper discusses the issue of multipolarity and South-South relations through the lenses of science and technology developments in Latin America. In striving for a multipolar world, this paper hopes to offer STS scholars a cautionary tale to approach the “multipolar fever” critically.

Long abstract:

The rise to prominence of multipolarity as an imperative in international relations and trade has been widely discussed over the past decades, particularly with the strengthening of BRICS and Pan-African movements (Stuenkel, 2020; Osogwa, 2014; Hampson & Heinbecker, 2014). The call for a world with multiple powers giving rise to different social and economic imperatives has been warmly received among STS scholars, with hopes that this new order can challenge deeply rooted colonial epistemological and infrastructural systems (Oliveira & Bonfim, 2023; Kervran et al., 2019; Khandekar et al., 2016). Beyond criticisms of the very idea of whether a multipolar world is, in fact, achievable (Brooks & Wohlforth, 2023), there are a few cautionary tales as to whether a new world order would easily uproot colonial science and technology structures (Basalla, 1969). This paper discusses the issue of multipolarity and South-South relations through the lenses of science and technology developments in Latin America, in dialogue with the Latin American Thinking in Science, Technology, and Development (PLACTS) (Varsavsky, 1969; Sábato, 1975) and more recent Latin American STS writings (Brandão & Bagattolli, 2017; Silva, 2021). It argues that calls to break dependency upon Western science and technology systems in Latin America did not necessarily equate to new epistemological and infrastructural imperatives. In fact, as seen in recent technology policy, they could further perpetuate dependent development models. In striving for a multipolar world, this paper hopes to offer STS scholars a cautionary tale to approach the “multipolar fever” critically.