Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Krohn, Claus-Dieter

Titel

Science in Exile: German Social and Economics Scientists in the US and the New School for Social Research

Erscheinungsjahr

1987

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• (EDITORIAL NOTE: This book is published in German; to conserve space, Chpt titles are presented only in English.) Organized in 9 Chpts & an Appendix, this history of the emigration of German social scientists during the Nazi period & their successful establishment of a "university in exile" at the New School for Social Research in New York, NY, from 1933 to 1945 traces research concepts & traditions that were transfered to the US & their reception & influence. (1) Introduction -- notes that this history has largely remained unexplored. (2) The Expelling of German Scientists -- provides a breakdown by discipline, showing that German colleges lost up to 40% of their faculty because of dismissals for racial or political reasons, of whom economists & social scientists constituted a large proportion. (3) America and the German Intellectuals -- discusses the reception of German emigrees at US universities, which was to some degree marked by anti-Semitism & a fear of infiltration by socialists. The Rockefeller Foundation made $1.4 million available to resettle German scientists in the US, England, & South America early in 1933; by the end of 1933, allocations for social scientists were cut drastically. (4) What Did the Exiled Economists Bring with Them to the USA? Tendencies in Scientific Theories around 1933 -- finds a deficit in reformist economic theory at US academic institutions in the 1930s. The German scholars who established themselves at the New School filled the gap in New Deal thinking; important contributions were made by the Austrian neoclassicists & the German reform economists. (5) The New School for Social Research -- offers a history of the school, founded in 1981, & discusses the intent of Alvin Johnson, its founder, to promote neglected research orientations in the social sciences with the arrival of the Germans. Despite serious funding problems & US State Dept resistance to issuing nonquota immigration visas for the new graduate faculty, the New School soon became a center for German refugee scholars. (6) Contributions and Achievements of the Exiled Economists at the New School -- describes the emerging theories, eg, the theory of technological progress, modifications of the Keynesian model, studies of financial policy, research on National Socialism, peace research & the Instit of World Affairs, & attempts to reach a theoretical synthesis in economic thought. (7) The Influence of the Immigrant Social Scientists in the US -- notes that the New School has always been an outsider, following a liberal tradition. The German academics at the School contributed to various debates, generally oriented themselves quickly to US research trends (to the surprise of US scholars), & created the original plan for the German currency reform of 1948. (8) Problems of Integration -- shows how individual scientists lived a marginal existence, never becoming fully integrated in the US mainstream. Some were regarded with suspicion as leftists, but no member of the New School faculty was ever called before the US Senate Committee on Un-American Activities. (9) Epilogue: The New School and the New Germany after 1945 -- notes the skeptical position of the emigrant scholars toward the new Germany. Appendix: List of European Scientists and Artists Who Were Helped by the New School for Social Research between 1933 & 1945. Bibliog.