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Science and the Colonies; Hidden networks of Botanical science, Ecology and Eugenics at the end of Empire

科学与殖民地；

基本信息

批准号：
AH/W009161/1
负责人：
Vinita Damodaran
金额：
$ 12.74万
依托单位：
University of Sussex
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2022
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2022 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FW009161%2F1
关键词：
Science Colonies Hidden networks Botanical

项目摘要

The twentieth century was a period which saw debates on ecology, cytology, genetics and eugenics in the West develop in new and interesting ways both positive and negative to understand the position of humans within the natural world and ultimately leading to an anti-racist science movement. This project explores the history of these debates in the context of Britain and India, the scientific networks that emerged and the contribution of neglected colonial scientists an important new field in the history of science, one which has gone unexplored in the context of these discussions. The debates explored here are particularly related to the movement known as the Modern Synthesis (1920-1960), which marked a period of heightened interdisciplinary knowledge exchange between the biological sciences, working now with a common Mendelian framework to solve, as they saw it, all of the mysteries of life. Through the new methodologies of cytology and genetics including genetic ecologies, concerns about population, extinction and the environment gained a more targeted approach. As, on a more sinister note, did concerns around racial purity and eugenics. In spite of J.S. Huxley's jubilant 1942 claim that the subjects of botany, genetics, ecology, and anthropology were irrevocably connected, these are subjects whose interdisciplinary engagements from the 1930s have still not been explored in a historical context. Neither have the connections between the remarkable individuals in these networks been analysed to understand the intellectual history of the movement towards an anti-racist science.By recording the unrecognised contribution of Western trained colonial scientists including a remarkable Indian woman to these critical global debates of the mid-twentieth century we will enhance our understanding of the practices of science in this period by examining race, gender and science the role of indigenous knowledge and the cross fertilisation of ideas. The impact of these debates will be assessed both in Britain in the form of the humanist movement which continues to be relevant today and in post colonial India soon after independence in terms of the emergence of scientific humanism which continued to be one of India's foundational principles until recently. In this context we will also examine the new emerging debates in indigenous knowledge and analyse the reasons for the ultimate triumph of Western knowledge systems in post-colonial India. The practical applications of this project will allow our partner institution the John Innes Centre in Norwich, with whom we have co-constructed this proposal to understand their own history in terms of the contribution of non-British scientists to the history of genetics and the chequered role of expertise and authority in constructing this knowledge. This will feed into public understanding of science both in the U.K. and in India and improve peer learning among an interdisciplinary group of scholars. By taking this knowledge to new audiences including school children in Kolkata in the form of displays and a digital exhibition at the John Innes Centre and Sussex will further help disseminate this knowledge to a wider audience both in Britain and India. It is hoped that the findings of the research will uncover pathways to changing the culture of science to become more inclusive of its colonial past by recognising the contribution of colonial scientists to many of the field science, such as botany, zoology, geology, geography and palaeontology.

20世纪世纪是一个时期，在西方，关于生态学、细胞学、遗传学和优生学的辩论以新的和有趣的方式发展，无论是积极的还是消极的，以理解人类在自然世界中的地位，并最终导致反种族主义的科学运动。该项目探讨了英国和印度背景下这些辩论的历史，出现的科学网络以及被忽视的殖民科学家的贡献-科学史上一个重要的新领域，在这些讨论的背景下尚未探索。这里探讨的辩论特别与现代综合运动（1920-1960）有关，这标志着生物科学之间加强跨学科知识交流的时期，现在用一个共同的孟德尔框架来解决他们所看到的所有生命之谜。通过细胞学和遗传学的新方法，包括遗传生态学，对人口，灭绝和环境的关注获得了更有针对性的方法。更险恶的是，人们对种族纯洁和优生学的担忧也是如此。尽管J. S。赫胥黎在1942年兴高采烈地宣称，植物学、遗传学、生态学和人类学的学科是紧密相连的，这些学科自20世纪30年代以来的跨学科活动尚未在历史背景下进行过探索。这些网络中杰出的个人之间的联系也没有被分析，以了解反种族主义科学运动的思想史。通过记录西方训练有素的殖民科学家，包括一位杰出的印度妇女对世纪中期这些关键的全球辩论的未被承认的贡献，我们将通过考察种族，性别与科学、本土知识的作用和思想的交叉孕育。这些辩论的影响将在英国以人文主义运动的形式进行评估，人文主义运动今天仍然是相关的，在独立后不久的后殖民印度，科学人文主义的出现仍然是印度的基本原则之一，直到最近。在这种情况下，我们还将研究新出现的辩论在土著知识和分析西方知识体系在后殖民印度的最终胜利的原因。该项目的实际应用将使我们的合作机构诺里奇的约翰英纳斯中心，我们与他们共同构建了这一建议，以了解他们自己的历史，非英国科学家对遗传学史的贡献以及专业知识和权威在构建这一知识方面的作用。这将有助于英国公众对科学的理解。并在印度和一个跨学科的学者群体中提高同行学习。通过将这些知识以展示的形式带给新的受众，包括加尔各答的学童，以及在约翰英尼斯中心和苏塞克斯举办的数字展览，将进一步帮助将这些知识传播给英国和印度更广泛的受众。希望研究结果将揭示改变科学文化的途径，通过承认殖民科学家对许多领域科学的贡献，如植物学，动物学，地质学，地理学和古生物学，使其更具殖民历史的包容性。