A Blueprint for Modernity: Engineers and the Globalization of Expertise, ca. 1870-1930

This collaborative project presents the most detailed study yet of the globalization of engineering expertise in its first half century, ca. 1870-1930. We examine the growing hegemony of U.S. and European dominance in the global knowledge economy as well as its impact on the local production of expertise around the world. Our project begins by constructing a massive new database of engineers and their school and associational affiliations, employment history, and correspondence in professional journals. We focus on the network relationships that structured global markets for technical knowledge and expertise. Second, we use this to identify questions that will frame a series of globally-situated case studies, presented in two workshops. Finally, we develop an interactive website for open access to the database itself and for use as an interactive educational tool. Our full proposal is attached; Kellogg funding is sought to co-fund the first workshop in November 2020.