Paper short abstract:

When a series of detailed analyses of human brains was conducted at the Neurological Institute in Vienna, widespread sexist and racist presumptions in academic brain anatomy were challenged. How will Japanese scholars visiting the institution interact with this critical discourse?

Paper long abstract:

Are there inherent anatomical differences between female and male brains, or brains of Europeans and those of people from other continents? While these questions spark controversy to this day, as apparent in recent publications in Nature and PNAS, sexist and racial prejudice in academic discourse have a long tradition. From the 18th century, anthropology was key in academically legitimizing patriarchy as well as colonial rule. Brain anatomist's quantitative argument, that brains of white men are more massive and therefore of superior intellectual capability compared to women's brains or brains of people of colour seemed to be an unquestioned academic doctrine in 19th century Europe. When critical anatomists at the Neurological Institute at the University of Vienna started to conduct in-depth analyses of brain samples at the beginning of the 20th century, they found enough evidence to challenge academic sexism and racism. The Neurological Institute in Vienna was founded through private funds in 1882 by Heinrich Obersteiner, a well-off liberal Austrian medical scholar. As the first designated neurological research laboratory in the world it quickly rose to the top of its field. Already from the 1890s, the institute hosted a disproportional number of Japanese visiting researchers looking for cutting-edge research opportunities to gain reputation within the scientific community. For Japanese scholars, the institute became a privileged stepping-stone into dominant German-language medical academia. How will Japanese scientists, who often experienced racism in Europe first-hand, interact with these novel findings? Looking at Japanese visiting scholars in Vienna and following their paths back to Japan, I will show how a delicate national and international political context of rising imperialism informs the reception of a medical discourse in Japanese academia. Will this knowledge find its way to Japan, even to its colonial outposts? In my paper I will trace the trajectories of scientific knowledge through transnational circulation to highlight its transformation and selection in different political settings.