In 2021, UNESCO proposed an ambitious definition of open science: a model of knowledge production and circulation based on transparency, free access, collaboration, and respect for epistemological diversity.
But what does it mean to turn knowledge into something “open,” shared, and offered to others? One way to approach this question is through a classic anthropological concept: the logic of the gift.
In The Gift (1925), Marcel Mauss demonstrated that in many societies, the act of giving is not a gratuitous or disinterested gesture, but one that is charged with social obligations. Giving also implies receiving and returning: gift, counter-gift, and mutual obligation. There is no innocent or purely altruistic gift—what is given circulates, binds, and commits. The object offered—whether a material good, food, a word, or knowledge—creates enduring ties between giver and receiver.
Thinking of open science as a logic of gifts allows us to go beyond a merely instrumental view (opening data, freeing publications) and frame it as a relational act: opening knowledge is indeed an offering, but also an act of interpellation. It is not simply about “granting” access, but about creating the conditions for that knowledge to become meaningful, appropriated, returned, and transformed.
From this perspective, scientific knowledge is a circulating good that generates ethical obligations: to the communities involved in research, to other bodies of knowledge and disciplines, to specific territories, and to future researchers.
Mauss also reminds us that every gift demands reciprocity and generates obligations. Opening knowledge, then, raises other questions: What do we expect in return? Who holds the power to reciprocate? And what forms of inequality do we reinforce when some people claim the power to “give” in the name of science, while others simply “share” their knowledge without recognition or authority?
Open science involves real tensions and challenges. As UNESCO’s declaration warns, powerful institutions and actors can turn it into a form of epistemic colonialism if they fail to build it on principles of equity, inclusion, and respect for cultural diversity.. To prevent this the “act of opening” must be accompanied by critical reflection on who gives, who receives, and how that circulation is regulated.
Thinking of open science through the lens of gifts—rather than as a mere policy of access—allows us to recognise that every shared article, every published dataset, and every exchange of knowledge between communities and researchers activates relationships. And those relationships are not neutral: they imply commitments, generate obligations, and open the possibility for mutual transformation. The transformative power of open science should inspire us to create a more equitable and diverse scientific community.
This kind of critical openness goes beyond access alone: it means offering knowledge as a gift—an act that places us within a web of exchange, reciprocity, and shared responsibility.
- PhD in Social Anthropology, Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology, Professor of Anthropological Sciences, UNDAV/CONICET
GLOSA 
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