Institutionalisation And Professionalisation of Science in Pre-Independence Era: A Case of Indian Science Congress Association

• In Event: The Making of Asian Science: Comparative and Historical Perspectives

Abstract

The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) occupies a unique place among various scientific institutions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in India. It has been a pivotal organization in shaping science in India. The paper aims at assessing ISCA’s role in the overall progress of science in India from the time of its inception in 1914 until India’s independence in 1947. The paper will primarily analyze ISCA’s role in institutionalization and professionalization of science. ISCA occupies a center-stage in the establishment of various scientific institutions, societies, academies of science and specialized laboratories, etc. It acted as a platform for growth of numerous sciences and their specialization. It provided scope for collaboration, inter-disciplinary joint discussions, etc. Its members have played a crucial role in advancing scientific knowledge and increasingly became internationally recognized for their contributions. These developments can be seen entwined with the changing socio-political context in India during the period of study. ISCA as a platform saw reflection of growing nationalism and self-dependency, planning, famines in the post-World War period. It enabled the shaping of a viable scientific community and provided a scope for interaction with foreign scientists. Although ISCA sessions saw a fair involvement of British scientists, there were papers co-authored by both Indian and British or European scientists at various sectional meetings. With the experience of the Second World War and India's move towards self-rule, there was a need felt for greater interaction, intercourse with foreign scientists and ISCA provided a platform for it. Until 1947, it remained the single national platform catering to different specialisms of science as well as showcasing their progress.
Today, ISCA is increasingly been criticised among scientific community for lacking in its vigour. This study is an attempt to analyse ISCA's role in shaping science until India's Independence. It gives us an entry-point for a later research into how scientific institutions fail?, which is a critical for STS. There is hardly any study on scientific institutions or associations within STS. Therefore, this paper tries to fill the gap in the academic research in STS.

Keywords: Indian Science Congress, Indian Science Congress Association, ISCA, Institutionalisation of science, Professionalisation of science and Shaping of Indian Science.

Author

• Sneha Sinha, Jawaharlal Nehru University