Is Small Science Cargo Cult? Mimicry, Dependency and Agency in the Margins of Big Science

Abstract This paper argues that the application of the notion of cargo cults to science provides a valuable heuristic for revisiting the dichotomy between big and small science. By considering the use of the notion both by Cold War physicist and by anthropologists interpreting Melanese rituals, we suggest that cargo cult is better adapted (and adaptable) to small than to big science. We simultaneously understand small science as mimicry developed in a context of dependence upon big science and as a form of agency useful to counteract asymmetries of power in a world dominated by hierarchical forms of doing science.