There is no unproblematic way to study things as “African”, yet an epistemologically situated approach based on concrete technological projectssituated in Africa and their social and political implications offers an importantaccount of the intersection of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and AfricanStudies. We explore this perspective through the notion of “indiscipline” usingthe Square Kilometre Array radio telescope project (SKA) based in SouthAfrica as a case study through which to observe “indiscipline” as amethodological approach to technoscience at work. Indiscipline helps framethe socio-technical (by)products of astrophysics and engineering, and wepresent the production of ventilators for COVID-19 patients as an example ofhow the design of mega-science projects can become entangled with thedynamic concerns of society. Our conclusion elaborates on the politics of largetechnological systems, opening up a conversation on the intersection ofscience and society in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution inAfrican settings, using the template of experiences with the SKA and theNational Ventilator Project in South Africa © 2021, Filosofia Theoretica. All Rights Reserved.
Indiscipline as Method: From Telescopes to Ventilators in Times of Covid