CfP: Unpacking the Bloc: Circulation of Knowledge, Resources, and Practices In Eastern Europe and Beyond

The organisers, among them EEGA Research Area Coordinator Dr Uwe Müller, 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. They also seek contributions which consider socialist countries in terms of their global connections.

Unpacking the Bloc: Circulation of Knowledge, Resources, and Practices In Eastern Europe and Beyond“

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.

Working language: English

The conference will be in hybrid format: online and on site in St. Petersburg from 22.04.2022 until 23.04.2022.

For more information and contact details, please see this website.