Soviet Science, Human Rights, and International Governance

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

Science is not what people immediately associate with geopolitical changes in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. Nor do we typically think of scientists influencing human rights advocacy or organizing disaster relief efforts. But the twentieth century saw science, technology, and medicine rise as elements of diplomatic power like never before and transform into global life-saving tools, weapons of mass destruction, and political bargaining chips. How could science influence the paths of international organizations or development of global ethics? What motivated scientists to become involved in politics?
This panel’s presentations bring into focus the deep engagement between science and Soviet involvement in global politics—from the health of the nascent republic of the 1920s, to the human rights advocacy of the 1970s détente, to the structural collapse of the scientific enterprise in the wake of perestroika. As we explore Soviet Russia’s wavering membership in the World Health Organization (Jones), the foundations and predications of the Helsinki Final Act (Rubinson), and the U.S.-Soviet exchange (Doel), trends emerge to connect these stories. The entangled relationship between science and the state—in our case, the Soviet Union, post-Soviet Russia, the United States, and international governing bodies—often guided political moves. But the human factor (memories, convictions, sympathies, and interests) determined and will continue to determine policy choices.

Sub Unit

• International Relations, Security Studies, Foreign Policy

Chair

• Andy Bruno, Indiana U Bloomington

Papers

• How Soviet Social Hygiene and Central Asian Epidemics Shaped International Health Organizations (1920s-1950s) - Susan D Jones, U of Minnesota

• The Final Act at Fifty: Scientific Cooperation and Human Rights from Helsinki to Ukraine - Paul Rubinson, Bridgewater State U

• Love in the Time of Perestroika: American Scientists Respond to the Soviet Academic Crisis - Anna Doel, American Institute of Physics

Discussant

• Sarah Cameron, U of Maryland, College Park