A core issue in the ongoing UK industrial action at universities is the conditions of scientific labour and careers. This supplementary unit connects an important historical essay on this topic, Max Weber's “Science as a Vocation” to contemporary issues in scientific work and their histories.
Many readings for this course include material about universities and labour in the history of science. Pay attention to these in your textbooks and see if you can identify some examples in your notes and prior (and future) readings.
In addition, read Max Weber’s essay “Science as a Vocation” in the resource list as well as three articles responding to the essay, putting it in historical context and connecting it to present-day issues in science and universities. A longer book by one of these authors also in the resource list can be a good gateway to exploring even further.
A. Identify and discuss a historical theme from Weber’s essay and the responses to it in the Resource List. Make clear in your response how the theme relates to historical interpretations that connect past science synchronically or diachronically to its contexts.
B. Identify and discuss an aspect of universities, science, and academic labour from one or more readings for other units in the Resource List and interpret this in light of Weber’s essay and the responses to it.