Article ID: CBB402338643

The 1931 London Congress: The Rise of British Marxism and the Interdependencies of Society, Nature and Technology (2021)

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The Second International Conference of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, held in London in 1931, exerted a profound influence on the historiography of science, giving rise to a new research field in the anglophone world at the intersection of social and political studies and the history of science and technology. In particular, Boris Hessen’s presentation on the Social and Economic Roots of Newton’s Principia successfully ushered in a new tradition in the historiography of science. This article introduces and discusses the London conference as a benchmark in the history of the social study of science within a Marxist and materialist tradition. In contemporary science and technology studies, political epistemology, and the study of society-nature interaction, it is no less relevant today than it was at the beginning of the fabulous 1930s. In reconstructing some important theses presented by the Soviet delegation in London, we aim to revive the conference’s legacy and the approach promoted on that occasion as a pretext to address current debates about society’s major transition toward a new agency and ways of existence in the Earth system. In particular, the London conference invited us to think of the growing metabolic rift between society, technology, and nature, and further reflects a historical moment of profound environmental and political crisis.

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Article Ana Simões; Antonio Sánchez (2020) Introduction: The Fabulous 1930s in the History of Science and Technology. HOST: Journal of History of Science and Technology (pp. 1-12). unapi

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB402338643/

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Authors & Contributors
Mayer, Anna-K.
Hill-Andrews, Oliver
Stanley, Matthew
Smith, C. U. M.
Heffernan, Michael
Thorsheim, Peter Joseph
Concepts
History of science, as a discipline
Marxism
Science and society
Science and politics
Historians of science, modern
Historiography
Time Periods
20th century, early
20th century
20th century, late
19th century
Places
Great Britain
London (England)
St. Petersburg (Russia)
United States
Switzerland
Soviet Union
Institutions
Hunterian Museum (London)
Tennessee Valley Authority
Royal College of Surgeons, London
Cambridge University
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