Call for papers

School of History, University of Liverpool, 17 -18 June 2010

Since the publication of Paul Boyer’s seminal study By the Bomb’s Early Light: American Thought and Culture at the Dawn of the Atomic Age in 1985, the examination of nuclear culture has mainly been conducted within the context of the United States. In spite of the fact that nuclear culture in Britain was, and still is, pervasive and powerful, scholars have largely neglected the topic, and it remains unclear how the term ‘nuclear culture’ should be understood.

‘British Nuclear Culture: Themes, Approaches and Perspectives’ sets out firstly to investigate the unique nature of nuclear culture in twentieth century Britain and, secondly, to rethink the conceptualisation of nuclear culture more generally. We are seeking to explore the impact nuclear culture had on British society, and the ways in which the scientific community, political decision-makers, consumerism, works of popular science, literature, journalism and film combined to create an identifiable nuclear culture. Also, because established studies have focused predominantly on the socio-cultural and political implications of nuclear energy and weapons, our conference aims to move towards a broader conceptualisation of nuclear culture in general.

We invite the submission of proposals from scholars whose backgrounds may include cultural history, cold war history, intelligence history, history of science and technology, economic history, critical theory, literary studies, popular culture studies, gender studies, peace research, environmental history, diplomatic history and public history. Paper topics might include: ‘early’ British nuclear culture (pre-1945), civil defence, the anti-nuclear movement, transnationalism, postcolonialism, the environmental and medical effects of nuclear testing, the scientific foundations of British nuclear culture, the impact of nuclear culture on understandings of the cold war.

Please send your 250-400-word proposal by 1 March 2010 to the co-organisers Dr. Jonathan Hogg or Dr. Christoph Laucht.