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A Postcolonial Moment in Science Studies

Alternative Firing Regimes of Environmental Scientists and Aboriginal Landowners

Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia, 3010; Fax +61 3 8344 7959; hrv{at}unimelb.edu.au

I juxtapose a story of Aboriginal landowners demonstrating their firing strategies with a story of environmental scientists elaborating their regimes of burning. The firings are profoundly different, and maintaining those differences is crucial for both Aborigines and scientists. Yet it is also important for both these groups to develop links between the forms of firing. I argue for understanding both firing regimes as expressions of collective memory which embed evaluative witness. This sameness enables modest yet sufficient connection. Acknowledging this translating form of ‘sameness’ would have scientists and Aborigines engaging an alternative form of generalizing, promoting a transformative moment in both knowledge traditions. This alternative form of generalizing embeds a politics different from the politics embedded in orthodox scientific and Yolngu forms of generalizing. I claim the tension made in articulating these alternative forms of generalizing as a ‘postcolonial moment’.

Key Words: Aborigines • Australia • environmental science • fire • generalizing • Yolngu

Social Studies of Science, Vol. 32, No. 5-6, 729-762 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/030631270203200506


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