Science as Co-Producer of Soviet Polity

• KOJEVNIKOV Alexei

  Department of History, University of British Columbia

Abstract

The cultural authority of science reached its peak during the period of high modernity. Various countries and societies partook in this trend, but it found its ultimate expression within the communist, Soviet-type polity. This article discusses the cultural underpinnings of this characteristic feature of Soviet society and examines one of its major ramifications, the key role of scientific actors in creating and shaping the basic features of Soviet civilization. Examples illustrate this role in different time periods: from building the foundations of the Soviet state in the 1920s, through determining the major vectors of Stalinist economic expansion and industrialization, to designing some key priorities of post-Stalin reforms and the later perestroika. Different types of actors drew their power and inspiration from the cultural authority of science- "bourgeois specialists," amateur enthusiasts, engineers-turned-politicians, and nuclear physicists. Some of the important legacies they left behind continue to persist today, even if often misattributed, so that a historical analysis is required to uncover their original roots.

Journal

• Historia scientiarum. Second series : international journal of the History of Science Society of Japan

  Historia scientiarum. Second series : international journal of the History of Science Society of Japan 22 (3), 161-180, 2013-03-31

  The History of Science Society of Japan

Keywords

• cultural authority
• science and modernity
• Soviet polity
• experts and political advice

Details

• CRID: 1573668927693204736
• NII Article ID: 110009597332
• NII Book ID: AA11081495
• ISSN: 02854821
• Text Lang: en
• Data Source:
  • CiNii Articles