International Workshop «Unpacking the Bloc: Circulation of Knowledge, Resources and Practices In Eastern Europe and Beyond» (St. Petersburg, April 22-23, 2022)

Recent scholarship has clearly demonstrated that the Socialist bloc was a more complex formation than merely a set of interests determined by the Soviet Union. Socialist countries were not identical in their political and economic structures, nor in their levels of technological advancement. They thus made up a heterogenous bloc. Yet the ideological rationale of socialist cooperation and integration insisted on a collective effort to enhance progress and forge an alternative to Western rivals. The Socialist bloc was particularly intertwined with diverse economic, technological, scientific and cultural communications. These included both official and intangible connections between individuals and institutes as part of trading, technology transfer, material and cultural exchanges, scientific and environmental collaboration, among other activities. We invite the submission of individual papers to discuss the implicit mechanisms and dynamics of intra-bloc communication in terms of diversity and complexity rather than unity. We also seek contributions which consider socialist countries in terms of their global connections. We are particularly interested in discussing various forms of connection within the bloc and beyond, including transfers of knowledge, technologies, and resources, as well as numerous practices embedded in cultural, scientific and environmental exchanges, among many others.

What was the role of hidden institutions and connections in integrating state socialism? What informal connections existed between actors at different levels, such as experts and officials, managers of enterprises and leaders of scientific organizations? What were some of the global intangible connections of the bloc and how did they change over time? We especially invite contributions on marginal aspects of Comecon’s history, such as economic mechanisms of integration, hidden political impacts, cultural exchange, technology transfers, and environmental cooperation.The workshop will be held in a hybrid form. We invite both online and on site presentations to take place at the HSE University in St. Petersburg. The organizers will provide meals for the on site participants.

Working language: English

Organizers:

*Dr. Elena Kochetkova (HSE University)

*Dr. Aleksei Popov (Chelyabinsk State University)

Conference Committee:

Prof. Mikhail Lipkin (Institute of World History Russian Academy of Science)

Dr. Oxana Nagornaja (Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University)

Dr. Uwe Mueller (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe)

Dr. Valentina Fava (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)Dr. Elena Kochetkova (HSE University–St. Petersburg)

Dr. Kirill Chunikhin (HSE University–St. Petersburg)

Dr. Алексей Попов (Chelyabinsk State University)

Please send your application by March, 1, 2022 via the following link: https://forms.gle/oojRhH96bxt9zhwo8

For any queries, please contact the organizers via unpacking.conference@gmail.com