Interdisciplinary Approaches to Soviet Statistical Records as a Source: Uses and Methodological Challenges

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The question of Soviet statistics—their collection, their uses, and their flaws—has preoccupied historians from various fields in Soviet studies. In a centralized, planned economic and political system, statistical reporting was vital to the center’s understanding of the implementation and effects of its policies in the periphery. In the regions, thus information was one of the key ways in which the leadership of Party organs, firms, etc., could demonstrate the efficacy of their work and their fulfillment of orders from above. Our panel will be dedicated to the investigation of this particular source, examining the collection, use, and flaws of different kinds of Soviet statistical records. Marvin Suesse will discuss quantitative work with economic statistics; Mikhail Nakonechnyi will speak on health statistics; Sophia Kalashnikova Horowitz will analyze political policing statistics. Chair and discussant Ed Cohn will provide a perspective from a fellow researcher of political policing statistics. Together, we will aim to answer the questions: What types of flaws were inherent to different kinds of statistical records, and how were the records manipulated in particular cases? What factors must be accounted for in understanding the nature and relative accuracy of statistical records? How can historians use different sources approaches to understand statistical data from the Soviet period more deeply? The interdisciplinary and cross-field nature of the panel will offer multiple perspectives on this type of source.

Sub Unit

• History: Since 1990

Chair

• Edward Cohn, Grinnell College

Papers

• Quantitative Work with Soviet Economic Statistics: Uses, Abuses, and Ways Forward for Researchers - Marvin Suesse, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)

• New Sources on Mortality Statistics of the Soviet Penal System, 1917-1953 - Mikhail Nakonechnyi, U of Helsinki (Finland)

• Soviet Political Police Informer Statistics and the Study of Informing as a Social Experience - Sophia Kalashnikova Horowitz, Harvard U

Discussant

• Edward Cohn, Grinnell College

Session Manager

• Benedict Edward DeDominicis, Catholic U of Korea (South Korea)