scholarly journals "There Are No Invalids in the USSR!" A Missing Soviet Chapter in the New Disability History

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah D. Phillips

This article presents an overview of disability rights issues in the context of state socialism in the former Soviet Union, especially the Russian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics. The Soviet state’s governmentality of disability, and the little-known history of Soviet-era disability rights movements, produced important legacies that shape disability policy and discourses, rights movements, and experiences of disability in the region today. By focusing on Soviet approaches to housing, education, rehabilitation, and work vis-à-vis people with disabilities, and documenting the varied responses of disability communities, this article contributes a missing Soviet chapter to the new disability history. This approach encourages readers to reconsider some assumptions about the evolution of disability rights outside the West. Especially, I interweave discussions of Soviet-era state policy with descriptions of people’s personal experiences to emphasize the ways that people with disabilities in the former Soviet Union have been active agents--if not organized advocates--across the 20th century.

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Hallett ◽  
David Allan ◽  
Graham Hallett

This article analyses the views of individuals from a post-Soviet context in order to better understand current thinking around difference and disability. In this study, the multiplicity of human experience articulated by the research participants highlights immediate, rather than philosophical, priorities. The particular social, cultural and political history of the Republic of Armenia offers an insight into the challenges of, and opportunities for, the development of inclusive practices in the former Soviet Union. As such, it could be argued that the West has much to learn from national contexts that might be dismissed as exclusionary.


2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 2-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Potgieter

The main ideas behind developments in the theory and technology of quantum computation were formulated in the late 1970s and early 1980s by two physicists in the West and a mathematician in the former Soviet Union. It is not generally known in the West that the subject has roots in the Russian technical literature. The idea, as propagated by Benioff and (especially) Feynman, is reviewed along with the proposition of a foundation for this kind of computation by Manin in the Russian literature. The author hopes to present as impartial a synthesis as possible of the early history of thought on this subject. The role of reversible and irreversible computational processes will be examined briefly as it relates to the origins of quantum computing and the so-called Information Paradox in physics. Information theory and physics, as this paradox shows, have much to communicate to each other.


ICR Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-600
Author(s):  
Abdullahil Ahsan

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) came into existence at the end of the 20th century during the Cold War, a period that also witnessed concerns among many Western intellectuals about the decline of the West. By the end of the century and the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the “clash of civilizations” thesis had placed Islamic civilisation at the center of international politics, once again raising questions about world peace and co-existence between civilisations. Could Islamic civilisation as represented by the OIC play a role at this juncture of history? Does it possess the capacity and know-how to meet this challenge? Such questions relate also to ideas of worldview: the Renaissance worldview of the West may be seen to have been tainted by Darwinism and Freudianism while the Islamic worldview appears corrupted by extremism. Can the OIC revive the universal Islamic values such as those upheld by Muhammad Iqbal-the 20th century student of Rumi? Can it do so in the context of tumultuous intra-Muslim relations? These questions frame our discussion in this paper.


1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Strelau

This paper presents Pavlov's contribution to the development of biological-oriented personality theories. Taking a short description of Pavlov's typology of central nervous system (CNS) properties as a point of departure, it shows how, and to what extent, this typology influenced further research in the former Soviet Union as well as in the West. Of special significance for the development of biologically oriented personality dimensions was the conditioned reflex paradigm introduced by Pavlov for studying individual differences in dogs. This paradigm was used by Russian psychologists in research on types of nervous systems conducted in different animal species as well as for assessing temperament in children and adults. Also, personality psychologists in the West, such as Eysenck, Spence, and Gray, incorporated the CR paradigm into their theories. Among the basic properties of excitation and inhibition on which Pavlov's typology was based, strength of excitation and the basic indicator of this property, protective inhibition, gained the highest popularity in arousaloriented personality theories. Many studies have been conducted in which the Pavlovian constructs of CNS properties have been related to different personality dimensions. In current research the behavioral expressions of the Pavlovian constructs of strength of excitation, strength of inhibition, and mobility of nervous processes as measured by the Pavlovian Temperament Survey (PTS) have been related to over a dozen of personality dimensions, mostly referring to temperament.


Author(s):  
Yuriy Makar

On December 22, 2017 the Ukrainian Diplomatic Service marked the 100thanniversary of its establishment and development. In dedication to such a momentous event, the Department of International Relations of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University has published a book of IR Dept’s ardent activity since its establishment. It includes information both in Ukrainian and English on the backbone of the collective and their versatile activities, achievements and prospects for the future. The author delves into retracing the course of the history of Ukrainian Diplomacy formation and development. The author highlights the roots of its formation, reconsidering a long way of its development that coincided with the formation of basic elements of Ukrainian statehood that came into existence as a result of the war of national liberation – the Ukrainian Central Rada (the Central Council of Ukraine). Later, the Ukrainian or so-called State the Hetmanate was under study. The Directorat (Directory) of Ukraine, being a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, was given a thorough study. Of particular interest for the research are diplomatic activities of the West Ukrainian People`s Republic. Noteworthy, the author emphasizes on the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic’s foreign policy, forced by the Bolshevist Russia. A further important implication is both the challenges of the Ukrainian statehood establishing and Ukraine’s functioning as a state, first and foremost, stemmed from the immaturity and conscience-unawareness of the Ukrainian society, that, ultimately, has led to the fact, that throughout the twentieth century Ukraine as a statehood, being incorporated into the Soviet Union, could hardly be recognized as a sovereign state. Our research suggests that since the beginning of the Ukrainian Diplomacy establishment and its further evolution, it used to be unprecedentedly fabricated and forged. On a wider level, the research is devoted to centennial fight of Ukraine against Russian violence and aggression since the WWI, when in 1917 the Russian Bolsheviks, headed by Lenin, started real Russian war against Ukraine. Apropos, in the about-a-year-negotiation run, Ukraine, eventually, failed to become sovereign. Remarkably, Ukraine finally gained its independence just in late twentieth century. Nowadays, Russia still regards Ukraine as a part of its own strategic orbit,waging out a carrot-and-stick battle. Keywords: The Ukrainian People’s Republic, the State of Ukraine, the Hetmanate, the Direcorat (Directory) of Ukraine, the West Ukrainian People`s Republic, the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic, Ukraine, the Bolshevist Russia, the Russian Federation, Ukrainian diplomacy


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Masnyk

This article deals with the professional discussion about the so-called “difficult questions” of Russian history that involves historians and teachers in the now independent republics of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Block. Both academic publications and teaching books are used as primary sources for the study. In the first section, the author studies several problems connected with the origin of Russian statehood, the Varangian question, and civilizational characteristics of East Slavic nations. The second section is devoted to the Russian imperial past and especially to the discourse on colonialism, which is often used as an explanatory model for the imperial period by historians and textbook authors in some of the post-Soviet countries. The third section is concerned with the conception of the 1917 revolution. The author emphasizes the fact that the conception of a continuous revolutionary process (1917–1922) has yet to be accepted by Russian secondary schools. In this part, the author considers several other factors significant for understanding the revolutionary process including issues such as the origins of the First World War and the developmental level of the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century. In the fourth section, the article discusses the conception of the 1930s Soviet modernization along with negative opinions about the Soviet period given by scholars of different former Soviet republics. In the fifth section, the author briefly observes contemporary studies of culture and everyday life. It is concluded that the history of culture is not represented well in Russian school textbooks, and it is also found that the studies on everyday life are often lacking in depth. Discussing various “difficult questions” of Russian history, the author highlights controversial historical ideas and opinions, formulated in the post-Soviet countries during the last decades.


2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
Rimma I. Sokolova

The article discusses such a new phenomenon of modernity as the rehabilitation of utopia, which has not yet become widespread, but it is a serious symptom of the crisis of civilization in Russia and in the West. It is shown that attempts to rehabilitate utopia are associated with the situation of crisis, uncertainty, unpredictability caused by the ongoing transformations of the modern epoch. Under these conditions, the utopia is not only a reflection of the existing situation but also an opportunity for the formation of new ideas and the reduction of uncertainty. Many astute researchers in both the West and Russia demonstrate a positive attitude towards utopia, as they see the opportunities offered by utopia, especially in times of crisis. It is noted that in Russia there is a gradual overcoming of the negative attitude to utopia, which was associated with the collapsed socialist system. A summary history of utopia shows that utopia is a significant factor in history that accompanies the development of mankind throughout history. Despite this, in the earlier decades of the 20th century and the beginning of 21st century the “death of utopia” was declared, it was driven by ideological and political reasons and by globalization in general. Meanwhile, at present its importance is again actualized in relation to the complex international situation. Therefore, both in the West and in Russia there is a growing demand for the ideal concepts of the future of human existence in the form of utopia.


2021 ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Weiyun Mа

The article reviews research on Chinese Eastern Railway in China. The research on Chinese Eastern Railway in China began in the early 20th century, has a history of more than 100 years. The existing research results mainly focus on the construction of Chinese Eastern Railway and Tsarist Russia's expansion policy, negotiation between China and Russia (Soviet Union) on the railway issue, the contradictions and struggles of Japan and the United States around the railway problem and so on. These documents cover a wide range of issues which almost involve the political, diplomacy, economy and trade, culture and other fields of international relations in the Far East from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of 20th century, provide a broad vision for the study of Chinese Eastern Railway. But there are problems in the research. Although there are many works on Chinese Eastern Railway, but most discussions are limited to a certain stage, there are few works on the whole history of Chinese Eastern Railway. Not only should we pay attention to the study of the early 20th century in other words the period of the Qing Empire, moreover, we should strengthen the research in the period of the Republic of China and the new China period, this is of great significance to the study of the whole history of Sino — Soviet relations. In addition due to specific historical conditions, part of the Russian data of Chinese Eastern Railway in China was lost, in addition, there is no detailed and authoritative reference book for Russian archives of Chinese Eastern Railway, this situation makes the cited materials in Chinese works appear too old the materials cited in the book seem too old. The authors thank for proofreading and examining the translation A.I. Kobzev, Ph.D. (Philosophy), professor, director of China Department, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, director of TSC of Humanities and Social Sciences and director of Philosophy Department of MIPT (SRI), director of TSC «Oriental Philosophy» of RSUH, Chief researcher of Russian language, literature and culture research center of Heilongjiang University.


2021 ◽  
Vol 120 (828) ◽  
pp. 274-279
Author(s):  
Svetlana Borodina

Despite Russia’s history of state surveillance of activists and civil society, both in the Soviet era and after, people with disabilities have found ways to challenge their living conditions and push for change. Through a variety of grassroots tactics, they have historically been active participants in society. Disability rights activists have developed an expansive repertoire of activist engagements (including online) that transcend the boundaries of familiar models of overt protest, dissent, and confrontation typical of disabled activists in Western democratic countries.


2021 ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
E.A. Naghieva ◽  

The technological development led to the substitution of vegetable and animal oils for the mineral ones. With further development of engine manufacturing, the requirements to the quality of lubricants increased. It was revealed that the mineral oils, as though they are cleaned, do not satisfy the requirements. In this regard, the new method for the improvement of the quality of lubricants is the addition of organic compounds with various functional groups providing the lubricants with set properties into so-called “additives”. In 1945 on the offer of academician U. Mammadaliev a laboratory of the lubricants and additives had been established and leaded by academician A.M. Kuliev under AzNIINP named after V.V. Kuybyshev. Fundamental studies of this staff were considered a basis for the development of industrial production of efficient additives in the former Soviet Union. First developments of the staff related to the depressor and detergent, afterwards to the multi-functional additives. Based on carried out surveys by the laboratory staff the first local additives – depressors AzNII, AzNII-4, AzNII-5, AzNII-TSIATIM etc. have been developed in Azerbaijan. The success of the staff in the studies and developments, as well as the presence of qualified specialists in the chemistry of additives promoted the establishment of the single in our country profiled Institute for the chemistry of additives of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan SSR under the leadership of A.M. Kuliev in 1965. The diapason of fundamental works, enabling to develop the scientific basis of synthesis of efficient additives of optimum structure has been dramatically increased. Numerous efficient additives of various purpose have been obtained. The lubricants are being used in all spheres of the economy.


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