Invoking the political in socioscientific issues: A study of Indian students' discussions on commercial surrogacy

The political nature of socioscientific controversies becomes starkly apparent in countries of the Global South where science and technology are embedded in societies characterized by pervasive structural inequalities which, in part, were created by the Global North. This article presents empirical work from the standpoint of a critical science educator, which attempts to highlight the political nature of socioscientific controversies, in‐line with criticisms of the dominant paradigm of research on socioscientific issues (SSIs) that foregrounds moral over political considerations, and the logico‐scientific over narrative modes of expression. The study highlights these aspects using the SSI of commercial surrogacy, involving data collected from 39 Indian students through interviews as well as group discussions—as they negotiated a SSI of commercial surrogacy. The data were analyzed in three parts and involved a discussion of: (1) the ethico‐political considerations that were raised; (2) the nature of standpoints that the students adopted; and (3) the nature of disagreements that were raised in discussions. The results reveal that the students in the study adopted a wide variety of ethico‐political positions on the issue, which were mostly supportive of, but occasionally challenged structural inequalities related to caste, class, and gender. The study examines these positions using a theoretical framework that draws on scholarship within the critical studies of science education.