No. 116/2024

F or years, one assumption about the global science system seemed to be set in stone: relevant, path-breaking research with its analyses, discoveries and innovations that would decisively advance humanity was only taking place in the high- income countries of the Global North. In countries of the Global South with low and medium incomes, on the other hand, for just as many years, the results of these outstanding scientific achievements were at best consumed. But is this really the case? How (un)fair is the global science system? If we take a look at the international academic landscape, a fairly clear picture emerges: To this day, North-American Ivy League universities and European elite universities head the relevant rankings. With their reputations as centres of excellence, it is much easier for them to attract outstanding researchers – who then do yet more excellent research when they get there. On the other side, there are universities, in Sub-Saharan Africa for example, which can often not even finance the purchase of the basic equipment needed to conduct significant research. The editorial offices of leading science journals have also traditionally been located in Europe and North America. With the help of peer reviews and a selection policy geared to the Global North, they are partly responsible for deciding which research, which knowledge and what form of knowledge acquisition are seen as the gold standard. UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION “Both the resources and the infrastructure within the global knowledge production system are unfairly distributed,” says the legal scholar and science theorist Sheila Jasanoffwho established Science and Technology Studies as a subject at Harvard University. “What is relevant here is not only the amount states invest in science per head of the population but also secondary factors like the computing capacity of the IT systems researchers are QUESTIONING CERTAINTIES In the global knowledge-production economy, resources and access are unfairly distributed. How this asymmetry came about, where there are still problems and where the conditions are beginning to change. Text MARLENE HALSER › WE NEED A NEW ERA OF INNOVATION IN OUR THINKING ABOUT SCIENCE.” SHEILA JASANOFF “ FOCUS 22 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 116/2024