Amidst the grand ideological struggles of the 20th century, an important and closely related series of developments was taking place: the rise of the human sciences. This symposium brings together scholars who consider not just the study of people, but also how science was applied in actively managing and influencing human behavior. Human scientists were influenced by and deeply embedded in the political and cultural debates of their time. Some sought to play a public, active role in those debates and to reshape human behavior in their ideal image, while others downplayed the applied possibilities of their research.

Panelists’ case studies of specific communities demonstrate a range of interested parties who, in interacting with the human sciences, offered to ‘play a key role in providing the vocabulary, the information, and the regulatory techniques for the government of individuals.’ (Rose, 1996) Various individuals, organizations, and networks sought to put the human sciences to work. Public relations and propaganda practitioners attempted to use the human sciences to control beliefs or shape desires; this forms the focus of Michael Kliegl’s work. Papers by Deborah Palmer and Alice White at this symposium consider the networks of industry, trades unions, scientists and medics. Caitjan Gainty will consider scientists’ use of film to produce working knowledge for the US Department of Agriculture.

The symposium will consider the cultures which influenced pursuit of the human sciences. Seyma Afacan examines psychology as a tool to invent “Ottoman citizenry” within the context of modernization in the late Ottoman Empire. Across cultures, fear of revolution, be it inspired by communism or sexual liberation, as studied by Donna Drucker, inspired a desire for greater control over the population and their beliefs. Governments and businesses required ever more efficient management of workforces due to dramatic economic booms and busts. New military challenges triggered developments in psychology; Marcia Holmes discusses the impact of military doctrines upon human factors research. We will also consider the cultures inspired by the human sciences: Charlotte Sleigh’s study of literature explores constructions of, and responses to, employing scientific ideologies as a means to understand and govern humans.

Despite such motivations for scientific approaches to studying people, many scientists had to justify their work as valuable, expert knowledge and not just “common sense”: contributors will also consider how knowledge claims were constructed in order to establish validity and construct boundaries. Our panelists’ international perspectives, wide-ranging interests within the human sciences, and the variety of periods they examine within the 20th century, will provide a fascinating insight into the questions posed above.