On the Meaning of “Sovietology”

1998 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aryeh L. Unger
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
Disciplinary Identity ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Common Area ◽  
Critical Scrutiny ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Western Scholarship

The article attempts to explicate the meaning of “Sovietology.” It traces the origins of the term and discusses the uses to which it has been put in the scholarly literature. Two different meanings have been attached to the term. One reflects the understanding of Sovietology as the study of Soviet politics; the other views it as a “basket” of several, variously specified, disciplines in the social sciences and—less often—the humanities, distinguished by a common area orientation. The resultant ambiguity has blurred Sovietology's disciplinary identity. Now that the record of Western scholarship on the Soviet Union has become the subject of critical scrutiny and debate, it is especially important that the meaning of “Sovietology” be clearly stipulated.

Science and Politics in the U.S.S.R.: The Genetics Debate

1951 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela N. Wrinch
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World Culture ◽  
Physical Sciences ◽  
World Science ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Social ◽  
Science And Politics

In the Soviet Union, views on all intellectual subjects—the social sciences, philosophy, and even the biological and physical sciences—are frequently regarded as expressions of political views. As a consequence, all intellectual fields are considered appropriate arenas for the struggle against “reaction” and other supposed manifestations of “bourgeois” ideology. To consider science a-political and supra-national, or to speak approvingly of “world science” or “world culture,” is to subscribe to the “bourgeois” ideology of “cosmopolitism”—an ideology which is assumed by virtue of its universalist emphasis to deprecate the contributions to culture made by individual nations.

Unfolding Differences, Enduring Similarities

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neville Kirk
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The Political ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Equal Importance ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Positive Impression ◽  
Scientific Socialism

Notwithstanding continuing similarities, Mann’s and Ross’s socialism was increasing characterised by differences. These similarities and, especially so, differences constitute the subject matter of chapter four. Mann and Ross continued to share commitments to the Social Revolution, labour movement unity and ethical and scientific socialism. Yet against these were Mann’s developing syndicalism, his downgrading of the political, especially parliamentary, means to socialism, and his synthesis of syndicalism and Bolshevism, as manifested in his membership of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He also had a positive impression of the Soviet Union right up to his death. In contrast, Ross increasingly attached equal importance to political and economic means, and in the 1920s worked actively in the Australian Labor Party. He opposed the application of the Soviet Bolshevik revolutionary model to Australia and fought against Australian communists. Ross’s growing attachment to Rationalism also signified that he was becoming more outspoken than Mann in his opposition to most kinds of religion. Yet, remarkably, the two men remained good friends and comrades. In conclusion, their case sheds new light upon the origins and character of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century socialism.

On the Other Side: The Russian–Ukrainian Encounter in Displacement, 1920–1939

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-348
Author(s):  
Mykola Soroka
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Ethnic Relations ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Colonial Experience ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Russian Empire

From the historical and scholarly perspective, Russian-Ukrainian relations occupy a unique niche in inter-ethnic relations, as they are framed by long-standing “fraternal rivalry,” imperial and colonial experience, and a complex understanding of identity, which are still at work today. Although the phenomenon has been the subject of numerous studies, little has been done to explore their encounter in emigration. The scope of these works has been limited to examining the relations between these two groups in the familiar territory of their homelands (i.e. either in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, or in the period following the dissolution of the Soviet Union), and scholars have usually not made a strict delimitation between the concepts of the homeland and hostland. But certainly, the Russian–Ukrainian encounter in emigration in the interwar period created its own discourse, which differed from the pre-revolutionary and Soviet discourses. Its main features are (1) further alienation and a feeling of difference between the two groups; (2) a growing metaphysical view of the homeland, accompanied by ethno-symbolic manifestations of national identity; and (3) a sense of mission to preserve their culture and identity from erosion engineered by the Bolsheviks.

Reflections on the “World Revolution” of 1940

1941 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
First World War ◽  
The Other ◽  
World War ◽  
The Social ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Infinite Variety ◽  
First World

So controversial is the subject of thai address–“Reflections on the ‘World Revolution’ of 1940”–that a few words of justification in in order. You may be assured that it was not chosen without considerable thought and trepidation. To begin with, I made a study of the addresses of my thirty-four predecessors, as presented in the pages of the American Political Science Review. Without exception, these papers impressed me as wise, scholarly, finely stated, and cogently argued. Occasionally they were lightened by the lambent play of humor. On the other hand, several of them wen decidedly dry–a quality lees refreshing in discourses than in wines. Many of my predecessors dealt penetratingly and profoundly with topics taken from the fields of specialisation wherein they were masters, often the greatest of American masters. Others discussed broadly and philosophically the nature of political science, its relations to the social sciences in general, or the problems encountered in teaching this science.Of course so brief a summary cannot do justice to the almost infinite variety of materials presented by past presidents of our Association. There was, however, one type of subject which as a rule they avoided—that of contemporary, controversial political affairs. Even during the years of the First World War and immediately thereafter, this proved to be the case with only one or two exceptions. No doubt the motive which prompted most of my predecessors to avoid issues of the day was a sound one.

scholarly journals Interpretasi Hermeneutika: Meneropong Diskursus Seni Memahami Melalui Lensa Filsafat Modern dan Postmodern

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (02) ◽  
pp. 51-79
Author(s):  
Antono Wahyudi
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Conflict ◽  
The Other ◽  
Philosophical Hermeneutics ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
The Subject

The verb "to  understand" is not only frequently misinterpreted but also epistemically does not even have the attention from society. In addition, the gap between the object that is understood and the understanding subject is getting wider. The term “understand” is identical with hermeneutics and it becomes an interesting discourse among the philosophers in which it is made to minimize the gap of misunderstanding between subject and object. Modern philosophers such as F.D.E. Schleiermacher, who succeeded in releasing hermeneutical discipline from the theological context into the philosophical context, focused on the aspect of textuality to achieve the objectivity. W.C.L. Dilthey, also a modern philosopher, succeeded in developing the hermeneutics from his predecessors by emphasizing reproductivity in attempt to have re- experience not only from the outer dimensions but also the inner dimensions of an object. While the modern philosophers emphasized the attainment of the objectivity, on the other hand, the postmodern philosophers such as Gadamer and Heidegger critically shifted their attainment to the  realm  of  the  subjectivity.  Furthermore,  if  Heidegger  departs  from  phenomenology- ontological   perspective   which   centered   on   humans   as   the  subject,   Gadamer  with   his philosophical hermeneutics succeeds in restoring the concept of abstraction to the social sciences along with expanding the range of paradigm. These four philosophers have successfully made a significant  impact  in  responding  to  the  social  phenomena  that  are  often  disturbing  the civilization. Thus, hermeneutic interpretation becomes important to be used in order to minimize the occurrence of social conflict as well as to maximize the realization of universal humanism.

Social Science’s Cold War

2019 ◽  
pp. 65-90
Author(s):  
Michael C. Desch
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
World War ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One

This chapter details how with the end of the Second World War, social science disciplines were pulled in two diametrically opposed directions. The general intellectual climate of the post-World War II/early Cold War era was one of great optimism about professionalizing and modernizing the social sciences on the model of the natural sciences. This impulse especially affected political science. However, the inherent tensions between “rigor” and “relevance” reasserted themselves once again, and it became clear that a peacetime choice between them might have to be made. On the one hand, the experience of the war, and the growing realization that the country faced a protracted period of rivalry with the Soviet Union, encouraged the disciplines to try to remain relevant to policy. On the other hand, the mixed security environment and desire to remake the social sciences in the image of the natural sciences eventually pushed them away from it.

Soviet Politics and the Group Approach: A Conceptual Note

Slavic Review ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Langsam ◽  
David W. Paul
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Group Theory ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Soviet System ◽  
Group Approach ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social

One of the “Great Debates” among Soviet specialists in the social sciences today concerns the applicability of interest group theory to the study of Soviet politics. Though a large number of specialists have accepted the notion that interest groups do indeed play a certain kind of role in the Soviet system, there are still those who hold to the opinion, once taken for granted but in recent years challenged, that interest group theory simply does not apply to the Soviet Union. The strength of the latter argument lies in the fact that in the USSR interest groups do not operate publicly and openly, as they do in the United States; therefore, interest group theory as developed to fit the American context cannot describe or explain the dynamic processes of policymaking in Russia.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 3-20
Author(s):  
Frances Henry ◽  
Dwaine Plaza
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Feminist Research ◽  
The Other ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Caribbean

While the literature on Carnivals is fairly substantial, especially in the Americas, the subject of women in Carnival as a serious topic of inquiry is relatively new. While the glamour of skimpily clad young and very beautiful women celebrated in the Rio Carnival makes annual headlines, increasingly similarly dressed women in the Caribbean Carnivals also attracts media attention. One of the main differences between the Rio Carnival and those in the Caribbean and its diaspora is that in the former those who are chosen to head the glamorous floats are always young, slim, beautiful, and invariably white. The current Caribbean Carnivals, on the other hand, celebrate ordinary women of all ages, all skin colors, all ethnicities, and most of them are far from slim. As the numbers of women have grown in recent years to about 80 percent of the participants, this phenomenon has caught the attention not only of the media but also of scholars. The growth of feminist research, especially in the social sciences, has spurred on scholars to more closely examine the reasons for this growth in numbers as well as what these large ranks of women are actually expressing as they wine and carouse in very skimpy bikini-and-beads types of costumes (Hosein 2017; ...

Ten Theories in Search of Reality: The Prediction of Soviet Behavior in the Social Sciences

1958 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Bell
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Soviet Rule ◽  
Human History ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complete Bibliography ◽  
The Way

Surely, more has been written about the Russian Revolution and the ensuing forty years of Soviet rule than about any comparable episode in human history. The bibliography of items on the French Revolution occupies, it is said, one wall of the Bibliothéque Nationale. A complete bibliography on the Soviet Union—which is yet to be compiledand may never be because of the geometric rate at which it multiplies—would probably make that earlier cenotaph to scholarship shrink the way in which the earlier tombs diminished before the great complex at Karnak.

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