Edition on the history of organization, management and support of science in the USSR

Review

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-2-631-639

For citation

Babkin, Mikhail A. (2024), “Edition on the history of organization, management and support of science in the USSR”, Herald of an Archivist, no. 2, pp. 631-639. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-2-631-639

Babkin, Mikhail A., Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia

Edition on the history of organization, management and support of science in the USSR

Abstract

The review by a Russian historian examines the collective monograph "Science of a Big Country: Soviet Management Experience", which was published in November 2023 in the publishing house of the Russian State University for the Humanities under the editorship of Doctor of Historical Sciences E. A. Dolgova. The authors (7 people) are specialists in the history of science, industry, technology and education, economics of science, sociology of science and its legal regulation. The book examines the process of formation and development of science and technology policy of the USSR for the entire period of its existence, as well as its transformation in the first decade after the collapse of the "big country" in a multidimensional manner. Particular attention is paid to the consideration of such features of the "socialist model" of science organization as its ideologization, state support of "big science", creation of the "cult of science" in the society, organization of breakthrough programs, scientific and technological independence, merger of science and technology, isolation of academic, university, industry and factory sectors of science. The book emphasizes that science in the USSR functioned in fact as a subsystem of the state, that its management was concentrated in state structures that sought to prove to the whole world "the superiority of the socialist economy over the capitalist economy". The authors did not set themselves the task of examining such important topics as the relationship between science and the authorities, between scientists and the political regime, and the impact of scientific and technological development on the Soviet society. They left out the repressions of the 1930s and the campaign to "fight cosmopolitanism and dissent" in the postwar period. Such an important sector of the field of knowledge as "military" science, which worked to ensure the state defense order, was also peripherally considered. As a source base for the study, the author makes extensive use of act material, office records of state and party authorities of different levels, sources of personal origin, journalism, and periodicals. The monograph introduces into scientific circulation a set of documents and materials identified in a number of Russian federal and departmental archives. The book consists of 9 chapters, conclusion, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, selected bibliography, name index and information about the authors. The monograph is an interdisciplinary study. It will be of interest to specialists engaged in the history, sociology and economics of Russian science, industry, technology and education, as well as to a wide range of readers interested in the history of Russia.

Keywords

Science in the USSR, history of science, organization of science, personnel policy, academic science, university science, branch science, transformation of science.

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References

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About the authors

Mikhail A. Babkin, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Russian State University for the Humanities, Institute of History and Archives, Faculty of History, Department of Modern Russian History, Professor, Moscow, Russia, 8-916-784-74-20, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 10.01.2023, recommended for publication on 20.03.2024.