Imagining a 'Jewish atom bomb', constructing a scientific diaspora. (April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rabinowitz, Or; Abramson, Yehonatan
• Is Part Of: Social studies of science. Volume 52:Number 2(2022)
• Page Start: 253
• Page End: 276
• Publication Date: 2022-04
• Subjects: scientific diaspora -- international relations -- transnationalism -- science diplomacy -- nuclear weapons -- Israel; Science -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals; 303.483
• DOI: 10.1177/03063127221077313
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-3127

Abstract

The nexus between transnational mobilization and Science and Technology Studies (STS) offers a productive platform for studying the formation of scientific activism, the influence of mobilization on scientific developments, and the ways science is used to achieve government goals. Integrating concepts from both sets of literature – particularly national sociotechnical imaginaries and socio-spatial positionality – this article explores how Dr Chaim Weizmann, a prominent chemist and a Zionist leader, attempted to construct and mobilize a 'scientific diaspora'. Empirically, the article draws on new archival evidence, revealing the hitherto unknown early efforts of the Zionist movement to acquire nuclear reactor and utilize the Jewish involvement in the American nuclear project for political leverage abroad. Theoretically, rather than beginning the analysis with a scientific-diasporic network that was ready to be mobilized, we trace the selective and tailored practices employed by Weizmann to animate the Jewish connection among nuclear scientists and professionals.