American Hegemony and the Postwar Reconstruction of Science in Europe

Author:   John Krige
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
ISBN:  

9780262112970


Pages:   392
Publication Date:   06 October 2006
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Awaiting stock   Availability explained


Our Price $105.60 Quantity:  
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American Hegemony and the Postwar Reconstruction of Science in Europe


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Overview

"In 1945, the United States was not only the strongest economic and military power in the world; it was also the world's leader in science and technology. In American Hegemony and the Postwar Reconstruction of Science in Europe, John Krige describes the efforts of influential figures in the United States to model postwar scientific practices and institutions in Western Europe on those in America. They mobilized political and financial support to promote not just America's scientific and technological agendas in Western Europe but its Cold War political and ideological agendas as well. Drawing on the work of diplomatic and cultural historians, Krige argues that this attempt at scientific dominance by the United States can be seen as a form of ""consensual hegemony,"" involving the collaboration of influential local elites who shared American values. He uses this notion to analyze a series of case studies that describe how the U.S. administration, senior officers in the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, the NATO Science Committee, and influential members of the scientific establishment--notably Isidor I. Rabi of Columbia University and Vannevar Bush of MIT--tried to Americanize scientific practices in such fields as physics, molecular biology, and operations research. He details U.S. support for institutions including CERN, the Niels Bohr Institute, the French CNRS and its laboratories at Gif near Paris, and the never-established ""European MIT."" Krige's study shows how consensual hegemony in science not only served the interests of postwar European reconstruction but became another way of maintaining American leadership and ""making the world safe for democracy."""

Full Product Details

Author:   John Krige
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Imprint:   MIT Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.658kg
ISBN:  

9780262112970


ISBN 10:   0262112973
Pages:   392
Publication Date:   06 October 2006
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Awaiting stock   Availability explained

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Krige's account provides strong support for his concept of a co-produced hegemony. He convincingly combines the idea of an American empire engaged in the defense of free-market economy, individual rights, and political democracy with the perception of a science radically changed by the Cold War. -- Science


Author Information

John Krige is Kranzberg Professor in the School of History, Technology, and Society at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

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