THE HUMAN SCIENCES IN COLD WAR AMERICA

2007 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 725-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOEL ISAAC
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Human Sciences ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Second World

ABSTRACTThe last fifteen years have witnessed an explosion of interest in the history of the Cold War. Historical attention has focused not only on the diplomatic and military aspects of the conflict, but also, increasingly, on its cultural, intellectual, and technological dimensions. One of the fruits of this widening of scope in Cold War studies is a burgeoning literature on the development of the post-Second World War American human sciences. Studies of the Cold War career of the human sciences, however, have often been inflected by moralistic, and sometimes tendentious, claims about the relationship between the state and the academy. This article seeks to explain the chief characteristics of the historiography of the human sciences in Cold War America by describing its formation in the interstices of three distinct lines of inquiry: the history of science, the cultural turn in Cold War studies, and the history of the birth of the human science professions in the United States. It argues that historians of the post-war American human sciences have absorbed some features of these literatures, whilst neglecting others that offer more nuanced perspectives on the relationship between scientific research and its patrons during the Cold War era. Moreover, it suggests that the best prospects for the future maturation of the field lie in the recovery of ‘middle-range contextualizations’ that link post-war trends in the human sciences to interwar and turn-of-the-century developments, thereby making the Cold War context less all-encompassing than it has sometimes appeared.

5. From the End of the War to the Schuman Plan (the late 1940s to the early 1950s)

2014 ◽  
pp. 85-102
Author(s):  
Ian Bache ◽  
Simon Bulmer ◽  
Stephen George ◽  
Owen Parker
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Practical Reasons ◽  
European Unity ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Schuman Plan ◽  
Second World

This chapter charts the long history of plans for European unity, from the end of the Second World War to the Hague Congress, the Cold War, the Schuman Plan, and the Treaty of Paris. It also considers European federalism and the practical reasons why some moves to European unity found favour with the new governments of the post-war period: the threat of communism and the emergence of the Cold War; the so-called German Problem; and the need to ensure adequate supplies of coal for the post-war economic reconstruction. As a solution to these intersecting problems, Jean Monnet, came up with a proposal that paved the way for the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community. The chapter examines Monnet’s proposal, national reactions to it, and the negotiations that led to the creation of the first of the European communities.

Latin America between the Second World War and the Cold War: Some Reflections on the 1945–8 Conjuncture

1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Bethell ◽  
Ian Roxborough
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
The Political ◽  
Postwar Period ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

The importance of the years of political and social upheaval immediately following the end of the Second World War and coinciding with the beginnings of the Cold War, that is to say, the period from 1944 or 1945 to 1948 or 1949, for the history of Europe (East and West), the Near and Middle East, Asia (Japan, China, South and East Asia), even Africa (certainly South Africa) in the second half of the twentieth century has long been generally recognised. In recent years historians of the United States, which had not, of course, been a theatre of war and which alone among the major belligerents emerged from the Second World War stronger and more prosperous, have begun to focus attention on the political, social and ideological conflict there in the postwar period – and the long term significance for the United States of the basis on which it was resolved. In contrast, except for Argentina, where Perón's rise to power has always attracted the interest of historians, the immediate postwar years in Latin America, which had been relatively untouched by, and had played a relatively minor role in, the Second World War, remain to a large extent neglected. It is our view that these years constituted a critical conjuncture in the political and social history of Latin America just as they did for much of the rest of the world. In a forthcoming collection of case studies, which we are currently editing, the main features of the immediate postwar period in Latin America, and especially the role played by labour and the Left, will be explored in some detail, country by country.1In this article, somewhat speculative and intentionally polemical, we present the broad outlines of our thesis.

Taking Back Our Spirits: Indigenous Literature, Public Policy, and Healingby Jo-Ann EpiskenewThe Cambridge History of Canadian Literature, edited by Coral Ann Howells and Eva-Marie KröllerRené Lévesque: Mythes et réalités, edited by Alexandre StefanescuHabiter la distance: Études en marge de La distance habitée, edited by Lucie Hotte and Guy PoirierCanadians Under Fire: Infantry Effectiveness in the Second World War, by Robert EngenWarming Up to the Cold War: Canada and the United States’ Coalition of the Willing, from Hiroshima to Korea, by Robert TeigrobSecond Promised Land: Migration to Alberta and the Transformation of Canadian Society, by Harry H. HillerWho Do We Think We Are? Canada's Reasonable (and Less Reasonable) Accommodation Debates, by Robin HighamComment Comparer le Canada avec Les États-Unis Aujourd'hui: Enjeux et pratiques, edited by Hélène Quanquin, Christine Lorre-Johnston and Sandrine Ferré-RodeOur Place in the Sun: Canada and Cuba in the Castro Era, edited by Robert Wright and Lana WylieOn Roosevelt's Bright Shadow: Presidential Addresses About Canada from Taft to Obama in Honourof FDR's 1938 Speech at Queen's University, edited by Arthur MilnesScience Fiction from Québec: A Postcolonial Study, by Amy J. RansomThe War of 1812 in the Age of Napoleon, by Jeremy BlackTechnology and Nationalism, by Marco Adria

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 541-566
Author(s):  
Eileen M. Angelini ◽  
Albert Braz ◽  
Kevin J. Christiano ◽  
Patrick Coleman ◽  
Clifford Egan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Indigenous Literature ◽  
Promised Land ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World ◽  
Le Canada

FROM WORLD WAR TO COLD WAR: THE WARTIME ALLIANCE AND POST-WAR TRANSITIONS, 1941–1947

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID REYNOLDS
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post War ◽  
The One ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

This review examines some of the recent British, American, and Russian scholarship on a series of important international transitions that occurred in the years around 1945. One is the shift of global leadership from Great Britain to the United States, in which, it is argued, the decisive moment was the fall of France in 1940. Another transition is the emergence of a wartime alliance between Britain and America, on the one hand, and the Soviet Union, on the other, followed by its disintegration into the Cold War. Here the opening of Soviet sources during the 1990s has provided new evidence, though not clear answers. To understand both of these transitions, however, it is necessary to move beyond diplomacy and strategy to look at the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of the Second World War. In particular, recent studies of American and Soviet soldiers during and after the conflict re-open the debate about Cold War ideology from the bottom up.

A POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE CONSUMER

2004 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 709-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHERYL KROEN
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
International Negotiation ◽  
Marshall Plan ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Political Narrative ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship

This article examines the relationship between the consumer and the citizen from the eighteenth century to the present in Europe and the United States. Part I highlights the political narrative underlying the opposition between courtly consumption (absolutism) and the inconspicuous consumption of the middling sorts, and explores early formulations of the relationship between consumption and democracy. Part II looks at the first half of the nineteenth century, defined by the opposition between consumers (coded feminine, and as ‘despised’) and citizens (coded masculine, and as ‘restrained’). Part III goes from the 1860s to the 1930s. American historians have emphasized the positive political agency of consumers in this period, and their contribution to the notion of social citizenship. This article emphasizes the less democratic aspects of consumer politics, and the contributions of anti-liberal movements on the extreme left and right to a stronger tradition of social citizenship in Europe. Part IV takes Lizabeth Cohen's claim that a ‘Consumers' Republic' was forged in the US in the post-war period, and casts the Marshall Plan and the Cold War as the context that gave rise to an international negotiation over the relationship between consumption and democracy that continues to the present.

3. Empire, Cold War, and Decolonization, 1945–53

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Young ◽  
John Kent
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Post War ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

This chapter examines decolonization and the changes that took place within the European empires during the early years of the Cold War. Decolonization constituted a crucial element of the new international order after the Second World War and formed part of the broader shift in the global balance of power. The war marked the end of the European-dominated system of nation states and was followed by the decline of the major European powers, with international dominance lying for a quarter of a century with the United States, challenged only by the Soviet Union. The chapter considers the challenges to colonial rule that were evident in both Africa and Asia during the inter-war years. It also discusses the imperialism and the struggles against it that have formed part of a post-war landscape in the Middle East.

5. From the End of the War to the Schuman Plan (the Late 1940s to the Early 1950s)

2020 ◽  
pp. 89-106
Author(s):  
Simon Bulmer ◽  
Owen Parker ◽  
Ian Bache ◽  
Stephen George ◽  
Charlotte Burns
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Practical Reasons ◽  
European Unity ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Schuman Plan ◽  
Second World

This chapter charts the long history of plans for European unity, from the end of the Second World War to the Hague Congress, the Cold War, the Schuman Plan, and the Treaty of Paris. It also considers European federalism and the practical reasons why some moves to European unity found favour with the new governments of the post-war period: the threat of communism and the emergence of the Cold War; the so-called German Problem; and the need to ensure adequate supplies of coal for the post-war economic reconstruction. As a solution to these intersecting problems, Jean Monnet, came up with a proposal that paved the way for the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community. The chapter examines Monnet’s proposal, national reactions to it, and the negotiations that led to the creation of the first of the European communities.

3. Empire, Cold War, and Decolonization, 1945–53

2020 ◽  
pp. 70-102
Author(s):  
John W. Young ◽  
John Kent
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Post War ◽  
Formed Part ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

This chapter examines decolonization and the changes that took place within the European empires during the early years of the Cold War. Decolonization constituted a crucial element of the new international order after the Second World War and formed part of the broader shift in the global balance of power. The war marked the end of the European-dominated system of nation states and was followed by the decline of the major European powers, with international dominance lying for a quarter of a century with the United States, challenged only by the Soviet Union. The chapter considers the challenges to colonial rule that were evident in both Africa and Asia during the inter-war years. It also discusses the imperialism and the struggles against it that have formed part of a post-war landscape in the Middle East.

The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
History Of ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Second World

The Cold War: A Very Short Introduction discusses the Cold War, which dominated international life from the end of the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall. But how did the dispute begin, and why did it move from its origins in post-war Europe to encompass virtually every corner of the globe? This VSI considers these questions and more, providing a truly international history of the Cold War and examining its enduring legacy. It draws on the most recent scholarship and documents to offer a full analysis of all aspects of the war. These include the Vietnam War and the changing global politics since the 1970s.

China and the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregg A. Brazinsky
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Mutual Benefit ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, America’s relationship with China ran the gamut from friendship and alliance to enmity and competition. Americans have long believed in China’s potential to become an important global actor, primarily in ways that would benefit the United States. The Chinese have at times embraced, at times rejected, and at times adapted to the US agenda. While there have been some consistent themes in this relationship, Sino-American interactions unquestionably increased their breadth in the 20th century. Trade with China grew from its modest beginnings in the 19th and early 20th centuries into a critical part of the global economy by the 21st century. While Americans have often perceived China as a country that offered significant opportunities for mutual benefit, China has also been seen as a threat and rival. During the Cold War, the two competed vigorously for influence in Asia and Africa. Today we see echoes of this same competition as China continues to grow economically while expanding its influence abroad. The history of Sino-American relations illustrates a complex dichotomy of cooperation and competition; this defines the relationship today and has widespread ramifications for global politics.

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