Marine Scientific and Technological Assistance to Developing Countries: Science for Development or Technology for Malintegrated Growth?

The U.S. marine-science community is currently preparing to launch new programs of marine scientific and technological assistance for developing countries. With Third World governments likely to soon control access to much of the ocean space within which marine scientists work, U.S. oceanographers are making ready for the day when assistance in the building of indigenous Third World technoscientific capabilities will become the standard quid pro quo for clearance to conduct scientific research in Third World waters. This paper begins by describing the forces and factors that are interacting to provide the impetus for marine-assistance programs. It then examines, against the background of the goals that form the rationale for those programs, some of the implications of marine scientific and technological assistance for Third World social and environmental systems. It concludes by indicating areas in which research in the social sciences could prove valuable to assistance-program design and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]