CFP: « Protect and Control. The Politics of Uncertainty and Danger in the Soviet Union (Second Half of the Twentieth Century) »

 Dear colleagues, 

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the workshop entitled « Protect and Control. The Politics of Uncertainty and Danger in the Soviet Union (Second Half of the Twentieth Century) » to be held on April 16 and 17, 2026 at the Maison Française in Oxford.

URL: https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-154313

While being less spectacular than terror and repression, the Soviet state’s efforts to protect the population from uncertainty and dangers were also instrumental for reshaping the relationship between state and society. Constructing an unforeseen event or danger as a social problem, taking protective measures and determining the conditions to compensate victims and anticipating the future – this is how we characterise the ‘politics of uncertainty and danger’. This workshop aims to clarify the paradox whereby the regime was attacked by the Soviets on the basis of its inability to protect them, despite its having reaffirmed its protective nature by implementing security measures.

This workshop aims to produce a collective publication in English and article proposals are expected by 15 June 2025.

Best regards,

Katja Doose, Grégory Dufaud, Anna Safronova