The Radio Hobby, Private Associations, and the Challenge of Modernity in Germany

1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-3-030-26536-6
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 369 Seiten, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 491 g

Reihe: Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology

In the early twentieth century, the magic of radio was new, revolutionary, and poorly understood. A powerful symbol of modernity, radio was a site where individuals wrestled and came to terms with an often frightening wave of new mass technologies. Radio was the object of scientific investigation, but more importantly, it was the domain of tinkerers, “hackers,” citizen scientists, and hobbyists. This book shows how this wild and mysterious technology was appropriated by ordinary individuals in Germany in the first half of the twentieth century as a leisure activity. Clubs and hobby organizations became the locus of this process, providing many of the social structures within which individuals could come to grips with radio, apart from any media institution or government framework. In so doing, this book uncovers the vital but often overlooked social context in which technological revolutions unfold.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Campbell, Bruce B.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte: Ereignisse und Themen
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction.- 2. The Beginnings: Radio in the 1920s.- 3. German Radio Before Broadcasting: Scientists, War, and Imperialism.- 4. Technology and the Radio Hobby Mature, 1927–1929.- 5. The Nazification of the Radio Clubs, 1929–1935.- 6. The Radio Hobby in the Service of National Socialism, 1935–1945.- 7. The Radio Hobby Comes in from the Cold, 1945–1955.- 8. Conclusions and Questions.

Über Autor(innen)

Bruce B. Campbell is Professor of German Studies at William & Mary, USA. He has published on the Nazi Stormtroopers and German detective fiction as well as radio.