The mean(ings) and ends of the Life Sciences. Transnational epis-temic networks at the Naples Zoological Station between 1910 and the 1950s

那不勒斯动物站(ZSN)是最早的国际研究中心之一，在十九世纪的最后四分之一被誉为主要的科学创新中心。在创始人安东·多恩去世后，人们对其历史的关注较少。这个项目关注的是ZSN作为一个国际研究中心在欧洲民族主义抬头的时期(1910-1955)的命运。通过结合当地、国家和跨国视角，该项目的总体目标是突出和研究科学变革、国际/民族主义和政治/意识形态趋势之间的不可分割的关系。我们追求两个目标：1.挑战20世纪西方生物学研究发展的叙事，以资本密集型、国家主导的项目和私人慈善机构的角色为基础；2.调查“国际主义”作为一个范畴的含义，将科学解释为一种文化实践。ZSN为此提供了独特的机会，因为国际性对它来说一直比起源神话更重要。近一个世纪以来，它一直是一项核心的组织原则，体现在它的“餐桌系统”中：每年向国家、地区和学术对象出租空间、材料和资源，以及对任何内部遴选过程和研究计划的计划性放弃。通过关注主要的客座研究人员(意大利、德国、英国和美国)和研究所的主要国家赞助人，我们将以一种新颖的方式探索科学创新的过程，以及“民族主义”、“国际主义”的共同演变含义，“公”与“私”在研究实践和研究机构领域。研究沿着两条相互关联的道路发展。一方面，我们以“研究表”为分析单位，自下而上地探索国家和跨国研究网络和认知社区的发展，解决这个研究空间的使用价值是什么，它是如何谈判的，它是如何随着时间的推移而变化的问题。另一方面，我们探讨了ZSN作为一个理想空间的象征价值，分析了在民族主义占主导地位的时代，关于其作为一个国际机构的实际和预期角色的跨国辩论。通过将这两个层次的分析结合起来，我们希望掌握研究空间的两个层次(语用和符号)之间的关系及其影响。在方法论上，研究的第一阶段将从正式和非正式的网络分析转向识别国家和跨国的认知社区，他们的定义焦点、对象和实践。第二部分将集中于当时正在进行的关于ZSN的机构性质和归属的辩论，从而探索将“科学”作为国际社会的普遍努力的不同、不断变化的表述。

The Zoological Station in Naples (ZSN), one of the first international research centers, has been celebrated as a major hub of scientific innovation in the last quarter of the XIX Century. Less attention was paid to its history after the death of the founder, Anton Dohrn. This project focusses on the fates of the ZSN as an international research centre in a period (1910-1955) plagued by the rise of nationalisms in Europe. By combining local, national and transnational perspectives, the overarching aim of this project is to highlight and investigate the inextricable relation of scientific change, inter/nationalism, and political/ideological trends. We pursue two objectives: 1. Challenging the narrative of the development of Western biological research in the 20th century, based on capital-intensive, state-led programs and the role of private charities; 2. Investigating the meaning of “internationalism” as a category for the interpretation of science as a cultural practice. The ZSN provides unique opportunities for this, as internationality has always meant more to it than a myth of origin. For almost a century, it has been a central organizational principle, embodied in its “table-system”: the annual rent of space, material and resources to national, regional and academic subjects, and the programmatic renounce to any internal selection process and research program.By focusing on the main contingents of guest researchers (Italian, German, British and US-Americans) and the main national patrons of the institute, we will explore the process of scientific innovation in a novel way, and the co-evolving meanings of “nationalism”, “internationalism”, “public” and “private” in the field of research practice and institutions.The research develops along two connected trails. On the one hand, taking the “research table” as a unit of analysis, we explore the development of national and transnational research networks and epistemic communities with a bottom-up approach, tackling the question of what the use value of this research space was, how it was negotiated and how it changed over time. On the other, we explore the symbolic value of the ZSN as an ideal space, analysing the transnational debate over its actual and prospective role as an international institution in times of dominating nationalisms. By coupling these levels of analysis, we want to get a grip on the relations between two levels (pragmatic and symbolic) of representation of a research space, and on their effects.Methodologically, the first leg of the research will take the move from formal and informal network analysis, and move towards the identification of epistemic communities, national and transnational, their defining focuses, objects and practices. The second leg will center on the then ongoing debate over the institutional nature and belonging of the ZSN, thus exploring different, changing representations of “Science” as the universal endeavor of an international community.