Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga

Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga is a Professor of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has taught since 2008. His research re-centers African knowledge production in the study of science, technology, and innovation, challenging colonialist frameworks that position Africa as a passive recipient of technologies.

• Key Research Areas: African environmental history, indigenous knowledge systems, mobility studies, postcolonial technoscience, and critiques of technology transfer narratives.
• Books: The Mobile Workshop (2018) examines the tsetse fly as a catalyst for African innovation, while Transient Workspaces (2014) explores everyday technological practices in Zimbabwe. He also edited What Do Science, Technology, and Innovation Mean from Africa?
• Recent Articles: Focus on mobility as analytical framework, African responses to zoonotic diseases, and the political ecology of pesticide use in colonial contexts.
• Scientific Awards: Honorable mentions from the European Society for Environmental History (Turku Prize) and African Studies Association (Herskivits Prize) in 2015.

Mavhunga’s work bridges history, philosophy, and anthropology of technology, advocating for decriminalizing African practices and integrating them into global STI discourses.