The Need to Extend Needham’s Vision of Science: A Decolonial Perspective

Modernity and coloniality are historically coeval; as modernity was being accomplished and celebrated by the West, its ‘darker’ side—coloniality—was simultaneously being experienced, especially by non-Western societies. Coloniality is implicated not only in political economy but also in the realms of cultural and knowledge production. From a decolonial perspective, the Needham’s question is problematic because of what it implicitly assumes. It is undergirded by two interrelated premises: first, that modern science represents the pinnacle of knowledge; and, second, that because modern science was first ‘discovered’ in the West, the latter represents the apotheosis of civilization. Thus, it implicitly regards the modern West as the standard bearer of knowledge and culture. Hence, even as Needham has importantly contributed to increasing the inter-cultural study of science and global history, a decolonial perspective suggests why Needham’s vision of science needs to transcend its Eurocentric confines to become truly inter-cultural and inter-civilizational.