6th International conference of the European Society for History of Science
Dear colleagues,
We are still looking for additional speakers to complete
our proposal on East-West relationships in experimental sciences in 20th
Century (see below).
If you are interested, we would appreciate if you could
send us a title and abstract by January 7. Also, feel free to drop us a line if
you are interested but have further questions.
Best wishes and apologies for cross-posting!
Cristiana Oghina -Pavie
Jean-Claude Dupont
Transnational Vectors at Work Between East and West in
European Experimental Sciences in the 20th Century In the 20th century,
European science has faced the political confrontation between East and West.
Despite periods of rupture that affected various scientific fields during the
Cold War, the circulation of concepts, knowledge, practices and people could
however continue.
The aim of this symposium is to focus on the European
construction of knowledge in experimental sciences, despite political and
ideological divisions. We consider that personal and supra-personal relationships
have contributed to "open windows" in the Iron Curtain and they gave
rise to original forms of scientific collaboration.
Can one identify transnational vectors between East and
West? Have they been dependent on national patterns? What was the role of international
conferences, exchanges of books and scientific reviews, scholarship programs,
relationships between universities, research institutes or academies? How have
the states prevented, monitored, supervised and facilitated the flow of
knowledge and people?
What was the involvement of Western communists and
communist parties in those networks? What were the reciprocal influences
carried by these vectors?
Did they have a predominant direction East-West or West-East,
according to scientific disciplines? Although the symposium focuses on the Cold War, we expect
proposals for papers that highlight the continuities and breaks before and
after the Second World War in all experimental sciences.