Shaky Foundations: The Politics-Patronage-Social Science Nexus in Cold War America

Studies in Modern Science, Technology, and the Environment

by Mark Solovey

Shaky Foundations provides the first extensive examination of a new patronage system for the social sciences that emerged in the early Cold War years and took more definite shape during the 1950s and early 1960s. Focusing on the defense department, the Ford Foundation, and the National Science Foundation, Mark Solovey explores the struggles of these various funders to define what counted as legitimate social science and how their policies and programs helped to shape the goals, subject matter, methodologies, and social implications of academic social research in the nuclear age.

Genres: Politics, History, Science, Social Science

267 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Yeast]

An introduction to the history of social sciences from the immediate postwar years to early 1960s, Shaky Foundations has demonstrated the tension between natural and social scientists, between conservative and liberal politicians and social scientists, and within the individual fields.

While the book is worth reading and contains some interesting information, I think the impact the development in mid to late 1960s has brought should be included in the analysis, and the struggle of individual scientists in the military-industrial-academic nexus can be better elaborated.