Kaye, Aleksandra; (2023) Mapping Transnational Knowledge Networks: Polish Scientific Professionals in Latin America, 1830-1889. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text Aleksandra Kaye - Mapping Transnational Knowledge Networks - Polish Scientific Professionals in Latin America, 1830-1889.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff Download (9MB)

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of migrants in processes of transnational scientific knowledge production through a case study of 147 Polish migrants to Latin America, 1830-1889 – from the November Uprising against the Russian Empire resulting in an exodus of Polish émigrés to the beginning of Polish mass labour migration to Latin America. The migrants in question were formally trained knowledge practitioners: engineers, topographers, medical doctors, naturalists and educators. In Latin America, they formed complex networks along professional, geographical and social lines while, in most cases, simultaneously maintaining their ties to Europe. I combine qualitative archival research with Social Network Analysis to interpret the significance of migrant networks for the circulation of scientific knowledge, both within Latin America and between Latin America and Europe. Those who worked in Latin America and Eastern Europe collaborated internationally and articulated science in ways meaningful to their contexts, yet due to international hierarchies of knowledge production, scientific claims by people from these regions have often been disparaged. I reflect on the multidirectional character of the transnational exchange of scientific ideas by exploring how these Poles navigated working in new conditions, what impact their efforts had on scientific practice in their adoptive countries, and how their findings influenced Polish scientific debates. By so doing, I shed light on the interconnectedness between the social and the scientific construction of knowledge and question the universality of scientific solutions when adapted to distinct spaces and conditions. I situate the work of these nineteenth-century Polish migrants in a broader international context of collective scientific knowledge formation, thereby offering an alternative historical perspective on individuals often interpreted through a predominantly national lens. This thesis contributes towards the ongoing recovery of Latin America and Poland from their marginalised position in global debates on the history of science and knowledge.

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