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Hierarchy versus symmetry in German and Israeli science

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The opposition [that Albert Einstein] felt to all types of regimentation made his education at the Munich gymnasium increasingly irksome and contentious. The mechanical learning there, he complained, ‘seemed very much akin to the methods of the Prussian army, where a mechanical discipline was achieved by repeated execution of meaningless orders…’ He once asked C.P. Snow, the British writer and scientist, whether he was familiar with the German word Zwang. Snow allowed that he was; it meant constraint, compulsion, obligation, coercion. Why? In his Munich school, Einstein answered, he had made his first strike against Zwang, and it had helped define him ever since. (Isaacson 2007).

Abstract

Is science culturally determined? If so, in what aspects and how? Using evidence from three studies of German and Israeli science, this paper shows that the contexts of scientific discovery in those countries are highly distinct. Respondents from each study embraced a universalist position by holding the belief that ‘science is science,’ suggesting that they share similar understandings about the context of scientific justification. However, respondents also agreed that the deep cultural codes of hierarchy (in Germany) and symmetry (in Israel) constitute the actual contexts of scientific discovery on utterly different trajectories. Specifically, they claimed that deep cultural codes determine the organization of labs; that they set the ground rules for the relations between senior and junior scientists; that they determine concrete research practices; and that they even constitute intellectual styles. By adding ‘national culture’ as an important factor in science studies, this paper suggests that it is the task of science and technology studies to employ broader approaches of cultural analysis. Such approaches would bring to light national particularities in socialization towards the universal Temple of Science; they also would facilitate greater appreciation for the multiple cultural ways of doing science.

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Notes

  1. The author is aware of Galtung's antisemitism and was partly involved in 'outing' him. See https://www.haaretz.com/1.5218261.

  2. Very few Israeli scientists train in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the Netherlands and Switzerland. England is a minor exception, but the figures are incomparable with the numbers doing graduate studies or postdocs in the US.

  3. The number of Arab or Palestinian Israeli citizens working as scientists in academia is negligible. In this context, therefore, the conflation between Israeliness and Jewishness reflects reality.

  4. While respondents used 'hierarchy' to explain German practices, the use of 'symmetry' was rare. Respondents rather spoke of equality and informality. I chose the theoretical concept of 'symmetry' as Reuvan Kahane (1974) used it in his theory of informal education.

  5. Author, authority, and authoritarianism reflect a pre-ordained source—God, or professor-doktor. Those below have to obey.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Avigail Weil, Elias Kuhley, and Jason Weiss for sharing data from their studies. Elad Schustack advised on statistical issues. Keith Goldstein assisted in organizing data and read drafts of this paper. Nir Rotem and Liron Shani provided significant inputs too.

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  1. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Har HaZofim, 91905, Jerusalem, Israel

    Gad Yair

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Yair, G. Hierarchy versus symmetry in German and Israeli science. Am J Cult Sociol 8, 214–245 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-019-00069-8

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