Jin Junkai, Tang Wenpei, Sinyutin M. V.The Establishment of Soviet Marxism in the International Scientific Environment: Experience of the Soviet Delegation at the Second International Congress on the History of Science and Technology. Sociology of Science & Technology. 2022. Vol. 13. No. 4. Pp. 83–109.

Текст статьи на сайте журнала URL: http://sst.nw.ru/Files/2022/2022_4_%20SNIT.pdf (дата обращения 13.01.2023)

Abstract

1920s were marked by increased international interest in the history of science and technology. In the Soviet Union, this interest coincided with the spread of Marxism and the implementation of the Marxist project of social reconstruction. The Second International Congress on the History of Science and Technology, held in London from June 29 to July 4, 1931, became an important milestone in the international recognition of Soviet developments in the field of the history of science. By this time, Soviet leadership had already begun to exercise control over international contacts and the activities of Soviet scientists. Therefore, the Soviet delegation, headed by N.I. Bukharin, was actually involved in the growing ideological confrontation between the Western and Soviet social systems, which manifested itself in the context of scientific meetings and discussions. This article, based on the analysis of documents from the Russian archives, reveals how the reports made by the members of the Soviet delegation upon their return to the USSR form a dichotomous perception of the work of the international forum and construct a value judgment about the advantages of Soviet Marxism in the study of history of science. Using the sociological models of groupings by type “us — them” and “established — outsiders” allows us to find out how the political priorities and ideological attitudes of Soviet Marxists crystallized within the framework of academic confrontation between scientific approaches to the history of science.