War Work and Integrated Analysis: Ernst Kris and E.H. Gombrich in Exile

Abstract

This chapter explores the work of the psychoanalyst Ernst Kris and the art historian E.H. Gombrich during the Second World War. It traces links between their work and the integrated analyses of social scientists such as Robert S. Lynd. Kris, Gombrich, Lynd, and their wider circle sought not only to join several disciplines from the humanities and the social sciences but also to bridge the pursuit of scholarship to participation in the war effort. During the war, Kris and Gombrich applied integrated research to the analysis of propaganda. Lynd served as an advisor to wartime projects organized by John Marshall and the Rockefeller Foundation, including a book on German propaganda co-authored by Kris. The projects pursued by Kris, Gombrich, and Lynd provided a foundation for similar efforts at intellectual integration after the war.