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- Author: Ulf R. Hansson x
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This chapter examines collegiality and the instrumentality of informal networks in the production of knowledge around 1900 as exemplified by the German classical archaeologist Adolf Furtwängler (1853–1907). Based on a relatively well documented case from the formative period in the modern history of Classical archaeology, this chapter explores how and to what extent various dynamic processes within the discipline can be affected when a key actor in the system for some reason withdraws or is excluded from the social aspects of the profession. Although Furtwängler was one of the most prolific and influential Classical archaeologists of his generation, his wide-ranging contribution is little discussed in the discipline’s modern histories, for various reasons. Based on substantial unpublished archive material that permits a detailed reconstruction of his professional networks and work methods, this chapter discusses Furtwängler’s problematic interaction with the scholarly community and his various strategies for creating and maintaining professional relations with institutions and individuals considered indispensable for his own work.
The dynamic processes of knowledge production in archaeology and elsewhere in the humanities and social sciences are increasingly viewed within the context of negotiation, cooperation and exchange, as the collaborative effort of groups, clusters and communities of scholars. Shifting focus from the individual scholar to the wider social contexts of her work, this volume investigates the importance of informal networks and conversation in the creation of knowledge about the past, and takes a closer look at the dynamic interaction and exchange that takes place between individuals, groups and clusters of scholars in the wider social settings of scientific work. Various aspects of and mechanisms at work behind the interaction and exchange that takes place between the individual scholar and her community, and the creative processes that such encounters trigger, are critically examined in eleven chapters which draw on a wide spectrum of examples from Europe and North America: from early modern antiquarians to archaeological societies and practitioners at work during the formative years of the modern archaeological disciplines and more recent examples from the twentieth century. The individual chapters engage with theoretical approaches to scientific creativity, knowledge production and interaction such as sociology and geographies of science, and actor-network theory (ANT) in their examination of individual–collective interplay. The book caters to readers both from within and outside the archaeological disciplines; primarily intended for researchers, teachers and students in archaeology, anthropology, classics and the history of science, it will also be of interest to the general reader.