The twentieth century witnessed the rise of a conservation movement that presented itself as 'international' and 'science-based'. This article analyses the changing transnational networks of experts mobilised by this movement. It does so by studying the participant lists of 21 influential international conservation conferences held between 1913 and 1990. On the basis of a database we were able to trace changes in the national background, disciplinary allegiance and gender balance of conference attendants. Furthermore, we singled out a so-called 'congress elite' of often returning participants, whose background we analyse more in depth. The overall composition of the congress network as well as that of its elite, we show, changed only through a slow and laborious process. This process accounts for both the continuity in the sensibilities of international conservation experts and the gradual changes in their approach.

中文翻译：

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20 世纪的保护会议和专家网络

二十世纪见证了一场自称“国际”和“以科学为基础”的保护运动的兴起。本文分析了这一运动所动员的不断变化的跨国专家网络。它通过研究 1913 年至 1990 年间举行的 21 个有影响力的国际保护会议的参与者名单来做到这一点。在数据库的基础上，我们能够追踪会议参加者的国家背景、学科忠诚和性别平衡的变化。此外，我们挑选出经常回归的参与者的所谓“国会精英”，我们更深入地分析了他们的背景。我们展示了国会网络及其精英的整体构成，只是通过一个缓慢而艰苦的过程发生了变化。