Substance History

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Martina Heßler, since 2/2021
• Subject Area: History of Science
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 416706624

Research on the history of certain substances and materials has recently gained new momentum. Stimulated by the Material Culture Studies on the one hand and Science and Technology Studies on the other hand, substances and materials are not anymore considered to be external and given preconditions of human activities but to be constructed yet potent entities. Therefore, substance history (“Stoffgeschichte”) is an essential contribution to the broader material turn in the humanities. At the same time, historical analyses of substances and materials form only a weakly contoured field of research that is characterized by heterogeneous approaches. Substance history so far subsumes a number of only loosely connected strands of research. A comprehensive overview does not yet exist.It is the aim of the proposed network to develop a coherent outline of the subject of substance history that will enable collaboration across the different approaches of historical research and allow the discussion of the underlying methodological concepts. To this end, the network takes the preliminary definition as a starting point that substance history is concerned with the dynamic interdependencies of substances and societal development. This definition links up to current theoretical debates on socio-material entanglements (ANT, Social Practice Theory, etc.). From this perspective, the network will review existing narratives on the history of substances and materials in order to promote the consolidation of the field (Cultures of Substance Use, Knowledge and Innovation, Limits of Materials, Trajectories of Substances, Material Flows and Inequality, Damages by Substances). The intersections and differences between these narratives will serve as a background to discuss and relate different research approaches and methodological concepts to each other.The setup of the network is not only intended to connect and consolidate the divergent research approaches concerned with the history of substances and materials represented by the network’s members: history of science and technology, environmental and economic history as well as the history of medicine and consumption. It will also enable historians to interact with neighboring disciplines in the social and natural sciences on a firm basis and accounts for the eminent political relevance of substance history.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Dr. Sebastian Haumann, until 2/2021