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Scientific knowledge and sexual advocacy: African publics, choiceless citizens and potential confounders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2022

Renugan Raidoo
Renugan Raidoo*
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
*
Emails: rraidoo@g.harvard.edu; rraidoo@gmail.com
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Abstract

This article is concerned with science and sexuality, and the possibilities and pitfalls of using the former to change minds about the latter, taking as its main source of data a report released by the Academy of Science of South Africa in 2015, Diversity in Human Sexuality: implications for policy in Africa. I frame the report in terms of co-production – borrowed from science and technology studies – and a theory of publics – taken from literary criticism and queer theory. I first describe how science has played a role in recent queer politics before showing how the report intervenes by appealing to a particularly African public. Thereafter, I describe how the choosing agentive subject disappears in the report’s depiction of the legitimate sexual citizen. Such a framing of citizenship raises several possible problems, some of which I address in the final section. These are described as potential confounders inhibiting the success of the report, preventing effective co-production or the summoning of a public. The article’s goal is not to discredit the report; rather, in pointing out how the report might fall short of its goal, it is directed towards a more reflexive activism.

Résumé

Résumé

Cet article traite de science et de sexualité, et des possibilités et des écueils à utiliser la science pour changer les mentalités sur la sexualité, en prenant comme principale source de données un rapport diffusé par l’Academy of Science of South Africa en 2015, Diversity in Human Sexuality: implications for policy in Africa. L’auteur présente ce rapport en termes de coproduction (empruntée aux études sur la science et la technologie) et d’une théorie des publics (issue de la critique littéraire et de la théorie queer). L’auteur commence par décrire comment la science a joué un rôle dans la politique queer récente avant de montrer comment le rapport intervient en suscitant l’intérêt d’un public particulièrement africain. Il décrit ensuite comment le sujet agentif qui exerce un choix disparaît dans la description que fait le rapport du citoyen sexuel légitime. Ce cadrage de la citoyenneté soulève plusieurs problèmes possibles, dont certains que l’auteur aborde dans la partie finale. Ils sont décrits comme des facteurs confondants potentiels qui inhibent le succès du rapport, en empêchant la coproduction effective ou la convocation d’un public. Le but de l’article n’est pas de discréditer le rapport ; il est plutôt, en montrant en quoi le rapport reste peut-être en deçà de son objectif, de s’adresser à un activisme plus réflexif.

Type
Science, sexuality and African publics
Information
Africa , Volume 92 , Issue 3 , May 2022 , pp. 295 - 314
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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