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Whether in science or in international politics, neutrality has
sometimes been promoted, not only as a viable political alternative
but as a lofty ideal - in politics by nations proclaiming their
peacefulness, in science as an underpinning of epistemology, in
journalism and other intellectual pursuits as a foundation of a
professional ethos. Time and again scientists and other
intellectuals have claimed their endeavors to be neutral, elevated
above the world of partisan conflict and power politics. This
volume studies the resonances between neutrality in science and
culture and neutrality in politics. By analyzing the activities of
scientists, intellectuals, and politicians (sometimes overlapping
categories) of mostly neutral nations in the First World War and
after, it traces how an ideology of neutralism was developed that
soon was embraced by international organizations. This book
explores how the notion of neutrality has been used and how a
neutralist discourse developed in history. None of the
contributions take claims of neutrality at face value - some even
show how they were made to advance partisan interests. The concept
was typically clustered with notions, such as peace,
internationalism, objectivity, rationality, and civilization. But
its meaning was changeable - varying with professional,
ideological, or national context. As such, Neutrality in
Twentieth-Century Europe presents a different perspective on the
century than the story of the great belligerent powers, and one in
which science, culture, and politics are inextricably mixed.
Whether in science or in international politics, neutrality has
sometimes been promoted, not only as a viable political alternative
but as a lofty ideal -- in politics by nations proclaiming their
peacefulness, in science as an underpinning of epistemology, in
journalism and other intellectual pursuits as a foundation of a
professional ethos. Time and again scientists and other
intellectuals have claimed their endeavors to be neutral, elevated
above the world of partisan conflict and power politics. This
volume studies the resonances between neutrality in science and
culture and neutrality in politics. By analyzing the activities of
scientists, intellectuals, and politicians (sometimes overlapping
categories) of mostly neutral nations in the First World War and
after, it traces how an ideology of neutralism was developed that
soon was embraced by international organizations. This book
explores how the notion of neutrality has been used and how a
neutralist discourse developed in history. None of the
contributions take claims of neutrality at face value -- some even
show how they were made to advance partisan interests. The concept
was typically clustered with notions, such as peace,
internationalism, objectivity, rationality, and civilization. But
its meaning was changeable -- varying with professional,
ideological, or national context. As such, Neutrality in
Twentieth-Century Europe presents a different perspective on the
century than the story of the great belligerent powers, and one in
which science, culture, and politics are inextricably mixed.
From 1918 to the late 1940s, a host of influential scientists and
intellectuals in Europe and North America were engaged in a number
of far-reaching unity of science projects. In this period of deep
social and political divisions, scientists collaborated to unify
sciences across disciplinary boundaries and to set up the
international scientific community as a model for global political
co-operation. They strove to align scientific and social objectives
through rational planning and to promote unified science as the
driving force of human civilization and progress. This volume
explores the unity of science movement, providing a synthetic view
of its pursuits and placing it in its historical context as a
scientific and political force. Through a coherent set of original
case studies looking at the significance of various projects and
strategies of unification, the book highlights the great variety of
manifestations of this endeavour. These range from unifying nuclear
physics to the evolutionary synthesis, and from the democratization
of scientific planning to the utopianism of H.G. Wells's world
state. At the same time, the collection brings out the substantive
links between these different pursuits, especially in the form of
interconnected networks of unification and the alignment of
objectives among them. Notably, it shows that opposition to
fascism, using the instrument of unified science, became the most
urgent common goal in the 1930s and 1940s. In addressing these
issues, the book makes visible important historical developments,
showing how scientists participated in, and actively helped to
create, an interwar ideology of unification, and bringing to light
the cultural and political significance of this enterprise.
From 1918 to the late 1940s, a host of influential scientists and
intellectuals in Europe and North America were engaged in a number
of far-reaching unity of science projects. In this period of deep
social and political divisions, scientists collaborated to unify
sciences across disciplinary boundaries and to set up the
international scientific community as a model for global political
co-operation. They strove to align scientific and social objectives
through rational planning and to promote unified science as the
driving force of human civilization and progress. This volume
explores the unity of science movement, providing a synthetic view
of its pursuits and placing it in its historical context as a
scientific and political force. Through a coherent set of original
case studies looking at the significance of various projects and
strategies of unification, the book highlights the great variety of
manifestations of this endeavour. These range from unifying nuclear
physics to the evolutionary synthesis, and from the democratization
of scientific planning to the utopianism of H.G. Wells's world
state. At the same time, the collection brings out the substantive
links between these different pursuits, especially in the form of
interconnected networks of unification and the alignment of
objectives among them. Notably, it shows that opposition to
fascism, using the instrument of unified science, became the most
urgent common goal in the 1930s and 1940s. In addressing these
issues, the book makes visible important historical developments,
showing how scientists participated in, and actively helped to
create, an interwar ideology of unification, and bringing to light
the cultural and political significance of this enterprise.
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