070017 PS BA Proseminar - Scientific Activism (2023W)

May the sciences be activist or do they even have to be? In public debate, the historical dimension of the topic is usually forgotten. Yet, the sciences and political activism have enjoyed a tense relationship ever since the emergence of modern science in the 19th century.

The seminar will examine various socio-political fields in which independent forms, media and practices of activist science emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries, or in which science became an opponent - and in some cases a force supporting - political movements. These range from the "social question" in the context of the labor movement, to fascist and new-right theories of race, population, and identity, to the mobilization of "counter-knowledge" in the new social movements of the 1970s and 1980s, especially in environmental policy, in feminism and postcolonialism. How did science and activism relate to each other historically? Did their relationship change over the course of history?

The thematic sessions will focus on reading and discussing primary and secondary texts in plenary and small groups. In parallel, participants develop the concept for their proseminar papers. This process, which ranges from the selection of a topic to the formulation of a question and argument to literature research, will be guided and accompanied by individual and group feedback.