Planetary Knowledge

Shifting from Social to Planetary Studies of Scientific Knowledge

Abstract

Based on a review of literature on the notion of the planetary, the concept of planetary scientific knowledge is developed. It reframes scientific knowledge as integrally and inherently planetary. While building on the established understanding in Science and Technology Studies (STS) of scientific knowledge as socio-material, the planetary perspective introduces a new conceptualisation of scientific knowledge as extended relations in and through one shared world. The notion of planetary scientific knowledge parts with problematic underpinnings of modern science, from widening metabolic rifts to obscured accountability. Planetary scientific knowledge is transgressive, and in its spherical ontology it grants agency to scientific knowledge to intervene in its own means of production. This implies heterogeneous, changing relations and multiple temporalities. The concept of planetary scientific knowledge thus offers a foundation for a move from social to planetary studies of scientific knowledge.