Science among the Ottomans: The Cultural Creation and Exchange of Knowledge by Miri Shefer-Mossensohn

Science among the Ottomans: The Cultural Creation and Exchange of Knowledge by Miri Shefer-Mossensohn

Author:Miri Shefer-Mossensohn [Shefer-Mossensohn, Miri]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, pdf
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Published: 2015-10-15T04:00:00+00:00


FOUR

STATE IN SCIENCE

On Empire, Power, Infrastructures, and Finance

The previous chapters depicted the world of curious Ottoman scholars—their families, communities, and social institutions—and how these affected the contents and directions of Ottoman scientific activity. Now we add an additional protagonist to the equation: the state and its distinct approach to planning and administration, science and technology included. This brings to mind Michel Foucault’s term governmentality in the context of the rise of the idea of the modern state which governs at every level, not just the administrative or political. The techniques of control that are part of the art of government expand, and include, for Foucault, also organizing knowledge, science, and technology.1 While it is helpful to think of techniques and procedures that were designed to govern the conduct of individuals and groups in science, the term is also problematic in the Ottoman context. Foucault identified a process in only one direction—namely, state apparatus coercing from above—whereas the Ottoman scientific experience should be understood as interaction between multiple actors around state apparatus.

This chapter demonstrates that the involvement of the Ottoman authorities (in both their private and official capacities) was extensive and significant. In discussing the state in science, I am referring to sultans, viziers, paşas, eunuchs, other court officials, and powerful women at the court. These people formed the ruling institutions of the Ottoman Empire and ran the machinery of the state. My concern is not so much the intellectual atmosphere, but bringing to the forefront dynamics of power relations and patterns of funding for scientific activities.

State involvement is best revealed in the patronage system linking scholars with members of the elite. This system institutionalized preference for specific scholars and certain fields of activity. Via patronage, members of the elite could bring their influence, sometimes indirectly, to bear on scientific and technological ventures, and the direction of their development.

Another aspect of state involvement in Ottoman scientific experience is transportation and communication infrastructures. Such large projects were always executed under the wings of the Ottoman state.



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