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Ever since the scientist-turned-novelist C. P. Snow clashed with literary critic F. R. Leavis in the early 1960s, it has been a commonplace to lament that intellectual life is divided between 'two cultures', the arts and sciences. Yet why did a topic that had long been discussed inspire such ferocious controversy at this particular moment? This book answers that question by recasting this dispute as an ideological conflict between competing visions of Britain's past, present, and future. It then connects the controversy to simultaneous arguments about the mission of the university, the methodology of social history, the reasons for 'national decline', and the fate of the former empire. By excavating the political stakes of the 'two cultures' controversy, this book explains the workings of cultural politics during the 1960s more generally, while also revising the meaning of a term that continues to be evoked to this day.
This dissertation presents a cultural history of the "two cultures" debate in postwar Britain. At the dawn of the 1960s, the scientist-turned-novelist C. P. Snow clashed with the literary critic F. R. Leavis over the relative merits of science and literature, and the ensuing controversy propelled the "two cultures" to its current status as a touchstone in discussions of the sciences and the humanities. Yet it is not clear how an issue that had been discussed since the Victorians ignited such ferocious controversy in the mid-twentieth century. This dissertation argues that the familiar public dispute was actually animated by political rivalries. It therefore takes a new approach to the episode, using it as a lens through which to explore tensions between advocates and critics of modern civilization---tensions previously obscured by language of the "two cultures," but which are shown to have animated seemingly disparate disputes over the mission of the university, the methodology of social history, and the meaning of national "decline." By excavating the political dimensions of the "two cultures," then, this dissertation explores the stakes of post-war cultural politics more generally, while recasting the meaning of a term that continues to be invoked to interpret British and American culture to this day.
This dissertation presents a cultural history of the "two cultures" debate in postwar Britain. At the dawn of the 1960s, the scientist-turned-novelist C. P. Snow clashed with the literary critic F. R. Leavis over the relative merits of science and literature, and the ensuing controversy propelled the "two cultures" to its current status as a touchstone in discussions of the sciences and the humanities. Yet it is not clear how an issue that had been discussed since the Victorians ignited such ferocious controversy in the mid-twentieth century. This dissertation argues that the familiar public dispute was actually animated by political rivalries. It therefore takes a new approach to the episode, using it as a lens through which to explore tensions between advocates and critics of modern civilization---tensions previously obscured by language of the "two cultures," but which are shown to have animated seemingly disparate disputes over the mission of the university, the methodology of social history, and the meaning of national "decline." By excavating the political dimensions of the "two cultures," then, this dissertation explores the stakes of post-war cultural politics more generally, while recasting the meaning of a term that continues to be invoked to interpret British and American culture to this day.
This eye-opening look at the intellectual culture of today--in which science, not literature or philosophy, takes center stage in the debate over human nature and the nature of the universe--is certain to spark fervent intellectual debate.
The notion that our society, its education system and its intellectual life, is characterised by a split between two cultures – the arts or humanities on one hand and the sciences on the other – has a long history. But it was C. P. Snow's Rede lecture of 1959 that brought it to prominence and began a public debate that is still raging in the media today. This fiftieth anniversary printing of The Two Cultures and its successor piece, A Second Look (in which Snow responded to the controversy four years later) features an introduction by Stefan Collini, charting the history and context of the debate, its implications and its afterlife. The importance of science and technology in policy run largely by non-scientists, the future for education and research, and the problem of fragmentation threatening hopes for a common culture are just some of the subjects discussed.
Some in the social sciences argue that the same logic applies to both qualitative and quantitative methods. In A Tale of Two Cultures, Gary Goertz and James Mahoney demonstrate that these two paradigms constitute different cultures, each internally coherent yet marked by contrasting norms, practices, and toolkits. They identify and discuss major differences between these two traditions that touch nearly every aspect of social science research, including design, goals, causal effects and models, concepts and measurement, data analysis, and case selection. Although focused on the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, Goertz and Mahoney also seek to promote toleration, exchange, and learning by enabling scholars to think beyond their own culture and see an alternative scientific worldview. This book is written in an easily accessible style and features a host of real-world examples to illustrate methodological points.
More than one million American children are schooled by their parents. As their ranks grow, home schoolers are making headlines by winning national spelling bees and excelling at elite universities. The few studies conducted suggest that homeschooled children are academically successful and remarkably well socialized. Yet we still know little about this alternative to one of society's most fundamental institutions. Beyond a vague notion of children reading around the kitchen table, we don't know what home schooling looks like from the inside. Sociologist Mitchell Stevens goes behind the scenes of the homeschool movement and into the homes and meetings of home schoolers. What he finds are two very different kinds of home education--one rooted in the liberal alternative school movement of the 1960s and 1970s and one stemming from the Christian day school movement of the same era. Stevens explains how this dual history shapes the meaning and practice of home schooling today. In the process, he introduces us to an unlikely mix of parents (including fundamentalist Protestants, pagans, naturalists, and educational radicals) and notes the core values on which they agree: the sanctity of childhood and the primacy of family in the face of a highly competitive, bureaucratized society. Kingdom of Children aptly places home schoolers within longer traditions of American social activism. It reveals that home schooling is not a random collection of individuals but an elaborate social movement with its own celebrities, networks, and characteristic lifeways. Stevens shows how home schoolers have built their philosophical and religious convictions into the practical structure of the cause, and documents the political consequences of their success at doing so. Ultimately, the history of home schooling serves as a parable about the organizational strategies of the progressive left and the religious right since the 1960s.Kingdom of Children shows what happens when progressive ideals meet conventional politics, demonstrates the extraordinary political capacity of conservative Protestantism, and explains the subtle ways in which cultural sensibility shapes social movement outcomes more generally.
