THE INFLUENCE OF MARXISM ON SCIENCE STUDIES
Dr Helena Sheehan
Dublin City University
ABSTRACT
How to appraise the reverberations set off by the impact of the soviet
delegation at the from the 1931 congress? How far-reaching, how profound
have been the resonances of this interaction? How were such tragic fates
connected to being so fired up by such ideas? How did later soviet delegations
fare at international congresses? What did subsequent generations make
of this connection of marxism with science? How have different trends within
marxism related to science? How have different trends within science studies
related to marxism? How has marxism influenced science studies? What remains?
What was set in motion at the congress continued to reverberate. Some
of those present were fired up and forever changed by it. Some prospered,
but others met tragic fates tied to the force of their convictions. This
presentation will trace the trajectory of the ideas put forward by the
soviet delegation through the decades since. It will focus both on the
impact of these ideas on several generations of marxists who have engaged
with science and also on trends in science studies showing a somewhat circuitous
and complex relation to marxism.