Early Soviet Medicine: Statistical and Narrative Utopias

• Authors: Zatravkin Sergei , Vishlenkova Elena
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Having found conflicting versions of the past in publications on the history of Soviet medicine, the authors of the article problematized the evidence with which historians work. This led to the study of the production and interaction of statistical and narrative statements of the health care authorities of the 1930s, that is, their reporting and futuristic pipe dreams. The comparison of the medical statistics published in the official directories and the current reporting of medical institutions revealed discrepancies between the published and collected information. Criticism of the official figures by contemporaries gave researchers the opportunity to reveal material and construction technologies of a utopian reality, from the power of which even modern researchers find it hard to free themselves.

Keywords

EN

Soviet Union; history of medicine; medical statistics; official discourse of public health; history of science

PL

Związek Radziecki; historia medycyny; statystyka medyczna; dyskurs urzędowy o zdrowiu publicznym; historia nauki

• Publisher: Instytut Historii Nauki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki
• Year: 2019
• Volume: 64
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 83–106

Contributors

author

Zatravkin Sergei

• N.A. Semashko National Research Institute of Public Health, Moscow, Russian Federation

author

Vishlenkova Elena

• National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation

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Identifiers

DOI

10.4467/0023589XKHNT.19.032.11040