This paper comments on the debate between Martin Bulmer and Donald Fisher, which appears in an earlier issue of this journal, concerning the influence of Rockefeller philanthropy on the social sciences between the wars. Three central issues of contention are distinguished and rival claims are evaluated. I argue that new empirical evidence drawn from the foundations' archives does not support some of their arguments although each interpretation has its merits.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ahmad, S.P. 1987. `Institutions and the Growth of Knowledge: the Rockefeller Foundations' Influence on the Social Sciences Between the Wars', (unpublished doctoral thesis). Manchester University.
2.
Alchon, G. 1985. The Invisible Hand of Planning: Capitalism, Social Science and the State in the 1920s. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
3.
Bulmer, M. (ed.) 1985. Essays on the History of British Sociological Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4.
Bulmer, M. 1984a. The Chicago School of Sociology: Institutionalisation, Diversity and the Rise of Sociological Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5.
Bulmer, M.1984b. `Philanthropic Foundations and the Development of the Social Sciences in the Early Twentieth Century: A Reply to Donald Fisher'. Sociology18:572-579.
6.
Bulmer, M.1982a. `Support for Sociology in the 1920s: the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial and the Beginnings of Modern, Large-scale, Sociological Research in the University'. The American Sociologist17:185-192.
7.
Bulmer, M.1982b. `Beardsley Ruml and the School Between the Wars: An Unsung Benefactor'. LSE Magazine64:5-7.
8.
Bulmer, M.1981. `Sociology and Political Science at Cambridge in the 1920s: an Opportunity Missed and an Opportunity Taken'. The Cambridge ReviewCII 2262: 156-159.
9.
Bulmer, M. and Bulmer, J.1981. `Philanthropy and social science in the 1920s: the Case of Beardsley Ruml and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, 1922-1929', Minerva19:347-407.
10.
Bulmer, M.1980. `The Early Institutional Establishment of Social Science Research: the Local Community Research Committee of the University of Chicago, 1923-30'. Minerva18:51-110.
11.
Collier, P. and Horowitz, D. 1976. The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
12.
Fisher, D.1988. `Boundary Work: A Model of the Relation Between Power and Knowledge'. Knowledge10:156-176.
13.
Fisher, D.1986. `Rockefeller Philanthropy and the Rise of Social Anthropology'. Anthropology Today. 2:5-8.
14.
Fisher, D.1984. `Philanthropic Foundations and the Social Sciences: A Response to Martin Bulmer'. Sociology18:580-587.
15.
Fisher, D.1983. `The Role of the Rockefeller Foundations and the Production of Hegemony: Rockefeller Foundations and the Social Sciences'. Sociology17:206-233.
16.
Fisher, D.1980. `American Philanthropy and the Social Sciences in Britain 1919-1939: the Reproduction of a Conservative Ideology'. The Sociology Review28:277-315.
17.
Hawthorn, G. 1976. Enlightenment and Despair. A History of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18.
Hayek, von F.A.1946. `The London School of Economics: 1895-1945'. Economica18:1-31.
19.
Karl, B.D. 1975. Charles E. Merriam and the Study of Politics. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
20.
Karl, B.D. and Katz, S.N.1987. `Foundations and Ruling Class Elites'. Daedalus116(1):1-40.
21.
Kohler, R.E.1987. `Science, Foundations and American Universities in the 1920s'. Osiris 2nd Series, 3:135-164.
22.
Lagemann, E.C.1987. `A Philanthropic Foundation at Work: Gunnar Myrdal's American Dilemma and the Carnegie Corporation'. Minerva25:441-470.
23.
Macrae, D.G. 1972. `The Basis of Social Cohesion', in Robson, W.A. (ed.) Man and the Social Sciences. London: Allen and Unwin.
24.
Robbins, L. 1971. An Autobiography of an Economist. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
25.
Seligman, E. 1963. Main Currents in Economics. Economic Thought Since 1870. New York: Free Press.
26.
Winch, D. 1969. Economics and Policy. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
