Men of Science: The British Association, Masculinity and the First World War (original) (raw)

The Academic World in the Era of the Great War, 2017

Abstract

This chapter shows how leading figures within the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) viewed the First World War as a welcome opportunity to prove their usefulness to both nation and empire and to vindicate the collective masculinity of ‘men of science’ which had recently come under renewed attack from their public critics. It investigates the various ways in which the BAAS attempted to make itself vital to the war effort. Much of this focused on proposals for maximizing the natural resources of different parts of the Empire and trying to mobilize them for the war effort; such activities provide a classic example of what Gillian Rose has termed ‘scientific masculinity’ or the subordination of (female) nature to human will. It also sought to make itself ideologically useful to the state, fighting communism in schools through its influential position in primary and secondary education, in particular, its promotion of a particular notion of manly citizenship, based on its views of the ideal scientist. The chapter also look briefly at the impact of the Association’s raised profile during the War on the position of the natural sciences after the cessation of hostilities. It argues that the war years were of vital ideological importance, in terms of maintaining a high public presence for both the BAAS and for science in general.

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