Doctoral Dissertation Research: Camaraderie, Conflict, and the Construction of Knowledge at International Scientific Congresses, 1878-1914

Columbia University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

"Internationalism" in science is often asserted but rarely defined or examined thoroughly. It is can be understood variously as cooperation, neutrality, or equality within scientific practice, perhaps more often as a phantom ideal of how science ought to function. This dissertation research project intends to address some of the questions, ambiguities, and possibilities of scientific internationalism by examining a specific site of activity: the international scientific congress. The researcher will examine the development of three series of such congresses in zoology, geology, and criminal anthropology in an attempt to understand (1) the nature of their internationalism as perceived by participants and as revealed in epistemological foundations and justifications, membership, procedure, ideological and practical goals, professional concerns, organizational structure, rituals, and symbols; (2) the struggles (both social and scientific) which threatened to and often did undermine the congresses' internationalist efforts and effectiveness; and (3) the effect of the international congress format on and the role of consensus in the construction of knowledge and the consolidation of scientific disciplines. By looking beyond superficial claims of international scientific fraternity and objectivity, her comparative analysis attempts to understand how a specific set of international projects were conceptualized and organized, how effective they were and why, and how scientists negotiated between internationalist and more localized concerns. The research incorporates four types of sources: 1) proceedings and documents published by the congresses themselves, 2) contemporary periodical literature written by congress participants and observers, 3) records and correspondence of government bodies and important national institutions, and 4) personal diaries and correspondence. By reflecting different perspectives, concerns, and degrees of direct involvement, these documents help present a more complex picture of the congresses and their participants' relations to them and investment in them. This project reflects and adds to recent shifts within the history of science (as well as within history in general) away from strictly national or one-to-one comparative studies, toward explorations of more international and transnational sites, such as collaborative research projects and the development of new supranational communities.