On the origins of the concept of ‘latent schizophrenia’ in Russian psychiatry

In the mid-twentieth century in the Soviet Union, latent schizophrenia became an important concept and a matter of research and also of punitive psychiatry. This article investigates precursor concepts in early Russian psychiatry of the nineteenth century, and examines whether – as claimed in recent literature – Russian and Soviet research on latent schizophrenia was mainly influenced by the work of Eugen Bleuler.

“WORLD EMPIRES” OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST OF THE FIRST MILLENNIUM B.C. IN THE THEORETICAL SCHEMES OF SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET HISTORIOGRAPHY

A feature of the Near Eastern history, observed in antiquity and in the Middle Ages in the first millennium B.C., is the emergence of vast centralized interregional states succeeding one another. In the late 19th century, the French Egyptologist Gaston Maspero showed that this was a gradual stage of integration of the microregion (following the interaction of the superpowers of the Late Вronze Age), and this point of view was shared by the Russian pre-revolutionary scholars N. Kareev and B. Turaev. Soviet research could not ignore the phenomenon, but had to put it in the context of the Marxist categories of the socio-economic “basis” and the political “superstructure”; oddly, an approach to the problem in the 1930s – 1950s was affected by Stalin’s own words about the transience of “Cyrus’ and Alexander’s empires”. However, starting with the work on the multivolume World History in the mid-1950s, the Near Eastern empires were treated as an important, moreover, a diagnostic feature of the second part of antiquity following the transition to the Iron Age. The paramount role in formulating this point belonged to Igor Diakonoff and his colleagues, who explained the emergence of empires by the processes within the oldest societies of the region (their alleged “crisis” in the late second millennium B.C.) and by the need to integrate the region between the center (irrigational societies) and periphery (regions supplying raw materials). Post-Soviet research has developed the theme rather meagerly. A factor strangely overlooked in the forwarded schemes is the rapid economic development of the Near Eastern societies having entered the Iron Age, which backed the demand for their firm political integration.

Modern Approaches to the History of Altai in the 18th – Early 20th Centuries

This article is the result of the historiographical analysis concerning the history of the Altai development, Altai being a significant region of modern Siberia and Russia. The authors present the main directions of studying the Altai history of the 18th – early 20th centuries, as well as scientific and methodological approaches used by historians in the last two decades. The examination includes such directions of studying Altai history, practiced in the last two decades, as frontier development, history of management, socio-economic development, agrarian colonization, history of entrepreneurship, social and gender studies, etc. The general state of historical science associated with the growth of public interest in history, review of theoretical and methodological foundations of historical research determined the development of historical Siberian studies concerning Altai in this period. Consequently, the historical study of Altai in the modern (post-Soviet) research shows the importance of modern history-oriented regional studies. Moreover, the development of the historical studies regarding such a large and major region as Altai in the last 20 years evinces the existence of a multidimensional regionaloriented scientific school in Russian historiography

Post-Soviet research in Turkey

This article is dedicated to peculiarities of studying post-Soviet space by think tanks of the Republic of Turkey. It is described how it is accepted in the works of Turkish authors to nominate the countries comprising the post-Soviet space, the subregions this geopolitical areal is divided into, as well as the most relevant Soviet problems explored by the Turkish scholars. For realization of the set goal, the authors firstly determined the circle of think tanks dealing with the problematic of post-Soviet space, and secondly examined the reports and publications provided by their experts in order to define a range of terms used in these works for designating the “post-Soviet space”. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that this article is first to analyzes the publications of the Turkish think tanks, namely for the purpose of determination and systematization of concepts that characterize the post-Soviet space. The research involves a significant volume of reports and publications in the Turkish and English languages for maximum coverage of the works dedicated to post-Soviet problematic. A tight connection is established between Turkey’s foreign policy priorities and problems viewed in reports of the think tanks. The acquired results allow to deeper understand the motives determining the vector of Turkey’s foreign policy in separate post-Soviet republics, as well as underline the divergence in views of the Turkish and Russian authors upon the problematic of post-Soviet space.

The Russian School of Foraminiferology

Russian foraminiferal research began in the late 19th century and has continued to the present. Micropaleontology was prominent at two main branches of Soviet research institutions, that in St. Petersburg, known as the Petersburgian (Leningrad) and in Moscow as the Russian foraminiferal school. These two collaborated in well-coordinated cooperative work all around the country. This combined school of foraminiferology included many accomplished scientists whose main achievements are summarized, including highlights of the leadership and the contributions of A. V. Fursenko, G. A. Dutkevich, D. M. Rauser-Chernousova, N. N. Subbotina, and A. Gerke. The sustained focus on evolutionary history and its significance for taxonomy resulted in the revision of higher-level taxonomy and new understanding of the phylogeny of the Foraminifera, as well as positive elaborations of the systematics, biostratigraphy and ecology of the Foraminifera.

Soviet Industry, Sichuan Style

This chapter shows that China’s experience played an important role in Soviet debates about restructuring enterprises. Many of Moscow’s reform efforts, such as the demand that enterprises become self-financing, and the decision to let individuals start small businesses, mirrored Soviet understanding of Chinese practice. Using documentation from Soviet research institutes and from Politburo meeting notes, the chapter shows that Gorbachev struggled to change Soviet economic policy. Conservatives managed to delay Gorbachev’s initiatives, sometimes for several years. When confronted with conservative opposition, Gorbachev often cited China’s successes as evidence that his reforms would also boost growth. However, after much delay, Gorbachev succeeded in pushing through reforms that were as radical as China’s, creating a private sphere and de facto privatizing many firms.